


Imperial Hostage

by coffeeberry, Pureblood_Slytherin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Imprisonment, Jedi Training (Star Wars), Manipulation, Memory Loss, Mutiny, Treason, Trust Issues, Ysalamiri (Star Wars), holocrons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-01-28 21:56:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 44,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21399277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeeberry/pseuds/coffeeberry, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pureblood_Slytherin/pseuds/Pureblood_Slytherin
Summary: AU. Jabba's recently acquired new slave girl, Princess Leia, is rescued by an unlikely savior and then finds herself in Imperial captivity.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo
Comments: 91
Kudos: 129





	1. In the hands of the Hutt cartel

**Chapter 1 – In the hands of the Hutt cartel**

The metal collar dug deep into Princess Leia’s neck and the short chain made sure she couldn’t get too far away from Jabba, the vulgar monster that had captured her, Han, Chewie and later on also Luke and that had forced her into this humiliating outfit: a metal bikini, while being chained to him. At least she did not have to dance, sing or duel with the Rankor. She was just a decoration, and, above all, a trophy and an example for the rest of the galaxy, showing them what would happen if you deceived the cunning Jabba.

And thus, all she could do was watch the guests, who continued to come in - crying before the Hutt and thanking the Force when they had managed to escape with their lives. And that not without reason, as the impulsive and ruthless Crime Lord did not like fruitless investments, nor did he possess patience for debtors, or those who did not offer good profit and only wasted his time. Unfortunately, the Princess had also seen Luke, who, after an unsuccessful speech, had had the nerve to defeat the terrible Rankor. After that, he had been thrown into a cell and now Jabba was so upset that he wanted a public execution! Things just kept on getting worse. And then a bounty hunter called Jodo Kast had asked Jabba for an audience.

At first glance, it was easy to confuse him with Bobba Fett due to the very similar Mandalorian armour. Some people actually thought that Kast was one of Fett’s men - at least that's what some of the dancers from Jabba’s entourage had said.

Leia noticed how Fett was looking at his "double" - or competitor - from a distance. He had, almost reflexively, touched his weapon several times. If Jabba wanted Kast to die, Fett would probably be the first to grant him that wish.

“Jodo Kast” Jabba said. “I have heard that you no longer work with Zardra and that since, your effectiveness has significantly decreased. That means your value has also declined. Are you looking for a new contract? To fix your ruined reputation?”

Jabba's well-trained courtiers started mocking the bounty hunter.

“I found what I was looking for," Kast said.

His voice was distorted by the mask, so it was difficult to say how or if he was affected by the Hutt's cutting words.

“And what is that?” the host asked.

“A valuable commodity, for which I already have a buyer," the bounty hunter announced. “I’m here for Leia Organa.”

The Princess suddenly felt the entire audience’s eyes on her and blushed.

“She is not for sale.” Jabba waved his hand disrespectfully, but he wouldn’t be a Hutt if he hadn’t asked: “How much would your buyer pay for her?”

“Ten million credits," Kast said smoothly. “The Grand Admiral is determined to have her and might be willing to give you more. Like the name of the spy who currently resides at your court.”

There was a sudden uproar filling the room. The Hutt raised his hand and everyone immediately fell silent.

“A spy, you say? Who is this spy? Does he know his name?”

“He does. And he'll give it to you when you give him Organa. Alive.”

Jabba thought about it for a second.

“It looks like I don't need you then," he said. “I’ll just wait until the Grand Admiral comes here, in person, to discuss the terms of the transaction.”

Kast laughed under his helmet.

“I am only an intermediary, but I know that there is an Imperial second-class Star Destroyer in orbit. The Imperials won't come here. They're not that stupid. If you refuse, they'll tear down your headquarters. They’re gonna bury us alive.”

Leia felt the chain being pulled and almost lost balance.

“If he wants her” the Hutt pointed at Leia with his fat hand “safe and sound, as you claim, he won't attack while she's here. She’s my life insurance.”

“She's a Rebel," Kast stated. “Keeping her here is hiding a fugitive. If you want to be neutral, give her to the Grand Admiral and you'll make good profit. If you refuse, you side with the Rebellion and the Empire will attack you. Yes, Organa is important and the Imperials want her badly, but if they don't get her alive, they'll settle for dead. They'll bomb this place to the ground.”

“He has something on you, hasn’t he, Kast?" Jabba said. "That's why you care so much about making this transaction happen. Or do you want to fool me and keep all the profit to yourself? Maybe I should send Fett or Dengar to deliver the Rebel Princess and keep you here?”

“That would be a mistake." The bounty hunter said. “Because you're right - the Grand Admiral has something on me. He had a biothermal bomb implanted inside of me. It activates if I don't deliver her within a reasonable amount of time. In this situation, my life is of greater value to me than profit. I'm the only one who is willing to give you the whole bounty. The others will certainly take a generous commission for their efforts.”

The Hutt thoughtfully rubbed one of his numerous chins.

“You don't want credits? I don't believe you, Kast. And I don't trust that Grand Admiral of yours. I have no guarantee that he will pay. He may be lying.”

Kast touched his helmet in a place close to his ear.

“The spy has recently joined your entourage.” he declared after a few seconds. “He's a guard. His name is Lando Calrissian.”

Leia held her breath. The bounty hunters immediately pointed their blasters at the guards, who then, one by one, threw away their weapons and took off their helmets.

“That’s the one," Fett said and pointed at Calrissian. “I recognize him. He was the administrator of Bespin.”

The Princess watched in horror as Jabba's henchmen overpowered Lando and dragged him out of sight. Her only ally - gone.

“So the Admiral is listening?” the Hutt interrupted the scene. “And he has given up his bargaining chip that easily?”

After a while Kast replied:

“He gave it away because you've got another spy here. A much more valuable one. One that is a trained killer.”

“Tell me his name!” Jabba demanded angrily.

The bounty hunter detached a portable communicator from his belt and then gave it to Bib Fortuna.

“You will receive it when Organa and I have boarded the Imperial shuttle," he replied.

“And he only wants her?“ The Hutt asked doubtfully. “Not the Jedi?”

This time Kast waited a while longer before answering.

“Just her. You can keep the Jedi.”

Leia drew her eyebrows. That was surprising. So far, the Empire had been very keen on getting their hands on Luke! He had destroyed their Death Star! Vader had even set a trap for him on Bespin! The Princess couldn't believe that the Imperials had suddenly stopped being interested in him. It just didn't make sense.

“The Emperor wants the Jedi to die," the bounty hunter explained, "and he will be pleased to hear that he was executed by the mighty Jabba, a faithful ally of the Empire.”

Obviously, the fat criminal was happy to hear that.

“You can have her," he said, and with that unhooked Leia's chain and threw it to the ground. “But if I don't get ten million credits from this Grand Admiral, you, Kast, will owe me ten million credits. So you better deliver the money together with the spy's name - or your bounty will be so high my men will chase you to the farthest corners of the galaxy. And when they bring you here, I'll feed you to the Sarlacc.”

“All right," Kast said. “It’s not like I have a choice.”

He turned to Leia and she almost felt his eyes on her through the visor.

“Give her a coat," he said. “ I can't lead her through the desert like this.”

Ironically, she was given Luke's coat. The Princess threw the hood over her head and wondered if she could overpower the bounty hunter on her own and escape.

“Don't try to escape,” Kast said as he had quickly guessed her thoughts.

Then he turned to the person who listened to them through the communicator in his helmet:

“Captain Pellaeon, send the shuttle to the scheduled location. I have the Princess.”

***

The least thing she could do was try to escape. So as soon as they had left Jabba's palace, Leia pretended she couldn't walk on the hot sand.

“Stop doing this.” He said. “My armour has a cooling system. Playing for time will get you nowhere.”

“The Alliance will pay you the ten million credits," Leia whispered then, so that the Imperials listening to them couldn't hear her. “We also have doctors who can remove the bomb.”

“There is no bomb implant." the bounty hunter explained. “I just had to give Jabba a reason to let me go.”

“Then we don't have to go... You don't have to hand me over to the Imperials.”

Kast was silent for a moment.

“I am under contract," he said. “And I don’t break my word.”

“They won't pay you.” The Princess said heatedly. “Turn off the communicator and take me...”

_Yes…Where?_ Leia thought. Well, she couldn't tell him the location of the rebel base, right? After all, he might only pretend to want to help her and then sell the information to the Empire.

“You're not that stupid, Princess." Kast said after a while. “You are half-way right though. The Empire won't pay the Hutt. But that shouldn’t be a problem, as he’s about to die. As I've already mentioned, Jabba has a smooth and quiet assassin living at his court at the moment. Now that the Hutt is looking for him, he will have to fight his way out and people will die. Same is true for the Jedi and his friends. There is also a good chance that Jabba’s power-hungry and influential co-workers will be blamed for his death. People like Bib Fortuna. Circumstances are beneficial for us at the moment.”

“So you want to get rid of Jabba," the Princess said, "by the hands of others.”

“Exactly.”

They were silently walking over the hot sand. In the distance they could see an Imperial shuttle waiting for them. Leia deliberately slowed down and the man leading her had to pull the chain to make her come along.

“What did the Grand Admiral promise you in return?” she asked. “Revenge?”

“Oh no.” Kast laughed quietly. “He promised... order and security.”

When they had reduced the distance between themselves and the shuttle, some Imperial assault troopers joined them. They targeted both of them with their blasters and then reached for the Princess’ shoulders, but Kast stopped them with a gesture.

“_I'_ll take her," he said.

They took away his gun and watched him distrustfully, but did not oppose him. The Princess gave the bounty hunter a meaningful look. Soon he would find out that the Empire never kept its promises. Lando had made the same mistake.

**TBC**


	2. Revelation

**Chapter Two - Revelation**

The room, to which the stormtroopers had led the Princess, resembled a Star Destroyer bridge, except that it was strangely empty and quiet here without a crew operating the ship's equipment. Then, to her surprise, the stormtroopers left, leaving her alone with the bounty hunter. Turning around to her, the man then said, in a light tone:

“I think we can dispense of the masquerade now, Princess.”

With that, he took off his helmet and Leia found herself in the presence of a near-human with blue skin and burning-red eyes. She drew her eyebrows. If the information she had about Kast were accurate, the man in front of her wasn’t him. It was just another impersonator, who, by all appearances, had had the same idea as her! And now it all made sense, Leia remembered Boba Fett reaching for his weapon, before slowly lowering his hand again – he had realized that it hadn’t been the real Jodo Kast, still he had decided to remain silent, which, in turn, begged the question: _Who was this blue man?_

“I am Grand Admiral Thrawn,” he informed her with a smile on his lips, obviously content with himself. “It is a pleasure to have you on my ship.”

The Princess shook her head vehemently. _He had been mocking her! He probably had had the time of his life when she had tried to convince him to join the Rebellion!_

Leia felt the heavy chain in her hands and briefly wondered if she could strangle the Imperial monster in front of her with it.

“Let us say I believe you.” She said, but, in her voice, there was a deliberate note of doubt. “That you are a Grand Admiral, despite some _obvious obstacles_ to achieve such a high position within the Empire.”

Thrawn raised an eyebrow in an expression of polite astonishment.

“And what obstacles are you referring to, Princess?”

“I'm sure you know.” She took a deep breath and continued in a forgiving, almost compassionate tone. “Palpatine despises non-humans and wants to make them his slaves. He may have given you this uniform and all the titles and privileges that come along with it, but that does not change the fact that he only considers you his tool.”

The Admiral put his blaster on the table - prudently out of the Princess’ reach - and began to detach the elements of his armour, piece by piece.

“Everyone is a tool, Princess.” He said. “But only few are aware of it.”

“Including me?”

He smiled. “Most definitely so.”

“And what do you want to use me for? What am I to you? A hostage perhaps?”

He carried on taking off the green Mandalorian armour, revealing his strong, blue arms.

Leia shook her head. This was ridiculous. _If _he were an Imperial Grand Admiral, he surely would not have disguised himself as a bounty hunter and had gotten her out personally! Military men in that position were `desk criminals´ and they also did not look like that and with that, she not only meant his alienness, but also his muscles. This guy worked out. A lot. 

“Patience, Princess.” The blue alien said and then raised his hand.

Out of nowhere a small, grey creature suddenly appeared, which made Leia jump.

_How the hell had he done that?_

“Is that the one you were talking about, Rukh?”

The grey alien bowed deeply.

“Yes, my Lord.”

“And you are ….. sure?”

For a second Leia thought that the creature had sniffed at her, correction – Luke’s, coat.

“Yes, my Lord.”

Leia studied the near-human’s face. There was something there. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on and then she saw his eyes flash a little brighter.

“Good.” He said calmly and then turned around, picked up a hydrospanner which Leia hadn’t noticed before and came over.

“If you will excuse me.” With that, he reached out for the golden collar that was still attached to the Princess’ neck. It was a strange situation, Leia thought, being so close to this stranger, this Imperial, wearing nothing but a metal-bikini underneath the thick, dark material of Luke’s coat.

With a loud crash the collar, together with the metal chain landed on the grey durasteel floor. Gone were the shackles of the old slave master, only to be replaced by other, more subtle ones, she was sure of it. Her stomach tightened as she held the enemy’s flaming gaze.

_Who was this man? She had never heard of an alien Grand Admiral. Could it be true?_

Finally, he took a step backward.

“Rukh, you will take the Princess to the medical station now. Dr. Jenner will know what to do.”

The grey creature obediently turned around and was on his way to the door, but Leia remained where she was.

“I don’t have to see a doctor.”

“I disagree. You spent the last two weeks in the presence of the galaxy’s most notorious scum and that under less than favourable conditions - hygienically, physically…” He pointed to the abrasions on her neck, where the chain had been attached, “….as well as mentally.” He smiled briefly. “Besides, you will go there. On your feet or hanging over the shoulder of one of my men, yelling and kicking like a four-year-old. The decision is, of course, yours.”

She looked him in the eye and was sure he meant every word. How she despised the cool arrogance most Imperial Officers carried around them like a second skin. Unfortunately, she was not in the position to change anything about that at the moment.

Leia swallowed. She had been a senator and a diplomat once and thus, she knew when it was best to play along.

“I see your point.”

“Very good. We are making progress already.”

Ignoring her anger, Leia followed the little grey alien outside.

“Oh, and before I forget, Princess.” She stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn around. “The Empire does pay - very reliably so, at the beginning of each month. Thus, please, spare both of us the inconvenience of further recruitment attempts.”

***

After a quick visit to the doctor, Leia found herself in her _quarters_.

She had had a hard time believing it when the stormtroopers had suddenly gone to the visitors’ quarters instead of down to the brig. However, she had no illusions that this was still a prison. The stormtroopers never left the door and she was sure that the room was bugged, but still, it had surprised her. Especially compared to the last time she had encountered Imperial ‘hospitality’. Leia shuddered at the mere memory.

The doctor, Mr. Jenner, a nice man in his thirties, had told her that she was fine, but that she needed rest. _How true._ She was exhausted and sleep had been hard to come by in Jabba’s Palace. The Princess sighed, put the bacta cream Dr. Jenner had given her for her abrasions on a nearby table and then looked around.

It certainly wasn’t a suite. As a representative of the Imperial Senate and as a Princess she knew suites. But it was clean, it had a bed and a small bathroom and, her eyes got stuck on a fruit-bowl – like a wildcat she suddenly jumped forward and bit into the red apple.

_Heaven. _Leia closed her eyes. She hadn’t known how hungry she was before she had seen the food. The cuisine at Jabba’s had been revolting. _But fresh fruit!_ She took another large bite and then filled the glass, that stood next to the fruit-bowl, with some water out of a glass carafe. With the new energy, Leia finally opened Luke’s coat, which, until now, she had held tightly to hide her “clothes”, undressed and took a much-wanted shower.

Afterwards, she found out that the wardrobe was filled with clothes. Nothing special. Two black jumpsuits, a pair of grey trousers and a white tank top, underwear and a PJ. All in the right size. Apparently, the Grand Admiral had done his homework.

After redressing, Leia went to bed in fell asleep almost immediately. But every now and then she woke up again, believing she was still on Tatooine, chained to the disgusting monster, or lying in her cell. She remembered the hard bed and the grey walls very well. And her “slave sister” Oola. The beautiful, young Twi’lek had occupied the cell next to her and sometimes, when Jabba had been very generous, he had granted some of his men a ‘private chat’ with her. Leia could still hear it when she closed her eyes. People said that female Twi’leks were born prostitutes, that they liked it. But she knew better. Oola hadn’t liked it. _What would happen to her now? Her, Luke, Lando and Han? What kind of stupid rescue mission had that been anyway? Foolish!_ She kicked the white bedspread. _And who would rescue her now? _

Leia stood up and looked out of the window. She had no idea where she was and why she was here. So how could her friends know…if they were still alive. She gazed outside for a little longer and then examined her room more closely, only to find that there was …. nothing. No chrono, no books, no HoloNet, no HoloTV. All was dark and quiet. Well, if she listened really carefully, she could hear the Star Destroyer’s engine humming.

_Wonderful…_

Leia shivered and hugged herself once, before going back to bed.

***

“The Admiral wants to see you now.” The stormtrooper said.

_At last._ Not that she was really looking forward to it, but the time in her quarters/prison seemed to pass incredibly slowly and Leia had no idea how long she had been here, waiting for something, _anything _to happen. _14 hours? Or 21?_

Leia briefly closed her eyes to the bright light outside her rooms. Inside she couldn’t boost the light to more than 5%. Perhaps a mechanical fault, but more likely pure intention.

“Thank you.”

She had changed into one of the black jumpsuits with black leather boots and her hair was done up in an Alderaanian hairstyle. Much like the one she had worn on Hoth.

The trooper brought her back to the ‘bridge’.

This time the Grand Admiral awaited her in full regalia. In a spotless white, well-fitted uniform and shiny black boots, with no hair out of place. He looked like the perfect Imperial officer, right from a propaganda clip, well…except for his alienness.

“Leia Organa. It is agreeable to see you again.” Even his Coruscanti accent was flawless. But there too was a slight _alienness_. Although it suited him well. He definitely was a striking sight. Even more so here - alone on a ‘Star Destroyer bridge’.

But Leia wasn’t one to care. She had defied, rebelled, all her life: against her parents, against the Empire, she had insulted Grand Moff Tarkin and she had watched her planet explode. He did not intimidate her.

“I cannot say the feeling is mutual.”

“Yet here you are.”

“Yes, here I am.”

He smiled slightly and then pushed a button. All of a sudden, a chart appeared in front of them.

“Do you know what that is?”

Leia studied the table and went closer to the screen.

“Midichlorian count.” She read and then shrugged. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it.”

The Grand Admiral sat down in his command chair and studied the content of a datapad.

“Most people have not.” He said and then explained. “It was part of how the Jedi looked for potential new students. It is rather easy to measure if you know how.” He looked up from the datapad. “That is yours.”

“You – you had it checked when I was at the med station!” Leia was angry. He hadn’t asked. He had done it behind her back. _Of course he hadn’t cared for her wellbeing! It had just been an excuse to have her tested! _

“I had reason to believe your midichlorian count would be considerably. So, yes, I had it checked. And I was not wrong.”

Leia looked back at the chart.

“These numbers mean nothing to me.” She said finally.

“They are high. Very high. You could become a Jedi or a Sith.”

Leia laughed a humourless laugh. So that was why he had offered 10 million credits for her? Why he had ‘freed’ her?

“Sorry to disappoint, but I have no Force powers, Grand Admiral. I am afraid you got it wrong.”

He smiled.

“I am never wrong.”

Now she really laughed.

“Everyone is wrong sometimes.”

He didn’t seem convinced.

“Look. If I had the Force, do you really think I would have let Vader torture me?”

“In hindsight a truly unfortunate event.”

“In _hindsight_?!” Leia hissed. _What was that supposed to mean?_

He didn’t comment on it any further and rose from the chair.

“You are right. But that does not mean that I am wrong. You cannot use the Force, but that is not due to a lack of ability. You just do not know how.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

He smiled. “The datapad there, on my chair, the one I just studied, it contains your birth certificate and your adoption papers.”

Leia’s eyes grew wide. “Why?”

“Midichlorians are inherited, my dear. There are stories of people who were simply born with a high midichlorian count, but those are exceptions. Usually, the ability to bend the Force to one’s will runs in families.”

Leia’s eyes darted to the datapad. Her parents. Her _real_ parents. She had never dared to ask about them to not betray her adoptive parents. Her father had told her once that her birthmother had been a close friend and a politician. But not much more. A part of her wanted to know more, another, more powerful part, was afraid. _Was she really related to a Jedi? Could it be? _Suddenly, she remembered Bespin. She had heard Luke’s voice in her head. As far as she knew, only Jedi could do that. And she had ‘felt’ his presence underneath the flying city. She had told no one, as she had been afraid people would call her mad. And then she had convinced herself that it had been all Luke’s doing. That Luke had used the Force to tell her. But he had never done so with anyone else….

“But I thought….”

“That the Jedi were forbidden to have a family?” The near-human shook his head.

Well, actually that was not what she had been thinking of, after all, Luke had told her that his father had been a Jedi, before Vader had killed him.

“The Jedi Code, as many other things, was a matter of interpretation.” He smiled slightly. “The Jedi were forbidden to have strong attachments. That, per se, did not exclude sexual relations. But, knowing your father, I deem the most likely scenario is he simply chose to ignore the Code.”

Leia felt the blood draining from her face, all thought leaving her mind.

“You knew my father?”

“And your mother.” The Imperial added calmly.

_He had known her parents? And how likely was that?_ He didn’t look _that_ old! But age was hard to tell with aliens.

She shouldn’t trust him. Everything he said could be a lie. Well, she knew a _little._ She could test him. If he told her something totally outlandish about her mother, then her suspicions would be confirmed and she wouldn’t listen to another damn word he said anymore. If he was not…perhaps she would learn more about her past, her parents. And why they had given her away. As much as it hurt her to acknowledge the fact, she wanted to know why…. Why would anyone give away their baby? Had it been because of the Jedi Code? Or because of her mother’s death? And what about her father? Had he died in the purge, like so many other Jedi? She knew nothing about him.

“Who were they?”

“Your mother had a good heart and knew how to fight for what she believed in. She was a noble and competent politician. You look a lot like her.”

Leia nodded. That she knew.

“Her name was Padmé Amidala Naberrie. She was the senator of Naboo before she died in childbirth.”

Padmé Amidala Naberrie. She would never forget that name. It had burnt itself into her heart within a second. Her mother…. _And she had heard that name before, hadn’t she? Hadn’t senator Amidala been part of the ‘Petition of the 2000’ against Palpatine? And wasn’t that wonderful? That she, Leia, had, without knowing, followed into her mother’s footsteps? Fighting Palpatine? _

“And my father?” She asked carefully.

“Your father is…somewhat different. Perhaps the best words to describe him would be impatient and emotional.” He shook his head. “But the labels ‘exceptional pilot’ and ‘remarkable warrior’ would do as well.”

“He was killed in the purge, wasn’t he? With the rest of the Jedi?”

“Who said he died?”

_What?! Had he just implied that her father was still alive? That made no sense! When he was still alive, why should he have given her up? Why had he never visited her?_

“That’s a lie. The Jedi are all but dead. Ben Kenobi was the last of the Jedi.” And Yoda she added in her mind. _But there were no others! Luke would have told her! _And the chances that Yoda was her father equaled zero. Luke had described him as a ‘crazy, little, green dwarf with long, pointy years.’ And Ben had told Luke to go to Dagobah because Yoda was the LAST Jedi, right?!

Suddenly, Leia noticed the Grand Admiral studying her.

“What?”

“It is remarkable how selective the Human brain can be.”

He went to the chair and got the datapad.

“I told you that Midichlorians are inherited and that you had the ability to become a Jedi - or a Sith.”

Leia was stone silent. _Her father was…. a Sith?!_ In a strange way, another piece of the larger puzzle had just clicked. The Empire worked with the Sith and if she….

Her thoughts raced and fear rose inside her like a fire burning bright.

_Oh no… There were only two known Sith in the galaxy..._

“You, my dear Princess, are the offspring of….”

_Impatient, emotional, exceptional pilot, remarkable warrior…_

_No! This couldn’t be! _

He handed her the datapad.

“Lord Vader.”

**TBC **


	3. Madman’s plan

**A/N: **A day early because tomorrow I have no time to upload. Enjoy.

**Chapter 3 – Madman’s plan**

_He was lying! There was no way Vader could be her father, otherwise..._

"When he captured and interrogated me, I felt nothing - absolutely nothing - that suggested we were related!" the Princess said in a sharp tone. "I'm not even sure he's Human."

The Grand Admiral looked at her with some amusement on his face.

"He is undoubtedly Human," he replied after a while. "And one of many things proofing that, is how desperately he clings to life, despite the fact that he lost almost everything he ever cared about."

He kept staring at her with his strange, red eyes and the longer he did the more his gaze annoyed Leia. It was disturbing, to some extent.

"He has given in to the Dark Side," the Princess said then. "He might have been a Human being once, but now he certainly is.... something else."

Thrawn raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her words.

Perhaps this was his way of admitting that she was right. After all, what father would torture his daughter and then allow her to be executed?! And Vader probably knew or guessed that she was his daughter. Surely, he must have - because if not... it meant that the Dark Lord wasn't as powerful as commonly thought.

"Indeed, it remains a mystery," the Grand Admiral said at last, "how you managed to hide your Force potential from both, Vader and the Emperor. That being said, we all know that it is hard to see what hides in plain sight. And, ever-so-often, it is worth to check even the most unlikely hypothesis, the impossible, so to speak, because whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Nothing should be overlooked."

He smiled with some satisfaction.

"I am in the possession of the results of your blood test, your Midi-chlorian count and of the professional opinion of a tracking expert."

The shadow behind the Chimaera commander's back slightly moved at the words.

"So, I guess we can safely establish that I have _strong suspicions_ about your heritage. But what I am _not sure _about is, is whether the person in front of me can match or even surpass Lord Vader's Force abilities," he said. "I assume that the ability to wield the Force is hereditary, but the fact that there is no data on Jedi descendants makes it hard to verify this thesis. And perhaps predisposition without training is worthless."

The way he said it made Leia suddenly feel as if her fate was at stake right now. Did he judge her usefulness? Or did he try to determine whether she might become a potential threat to the Empire? Did he wonder whether he should bother Palpatine with the topic of ‘Vader's miraculously found daughter’, or whether, perhaps for the sake of security and stability, this detail should remain secret? Or even be removed as an unstable element in the equation? What would become of her now?

Vader hadn’t noticed her 'potential', in fact, _nobody had_, not even the people closest to her had ever addressed some 'supernatural abilities' - and that with good reason because she didn't possess any! Well, maybe shooting with a blaster had always been surprisingly easy, but it that, surely, wasn't proof that she had anything to do with the Force.

Actually, if it hadn't been for the moment when she had literally _heard_ Luke's cry in her head, Leia would have been inclined to swear, here and now, that she didn't have any 'Jedi skills'. Now, however, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Come with me."

The Grand Admiral led her to a small room, where two huge battle robots stood. Antiquities from the Clone Wars. Somehow Leia wasn't surprised that they were part of Thrawn's collection. She smiled. From a man, who dressed up as a bounty hunter for fun and liked to spend his free time on the replica of a Star Destroyer bridge, everything could be expected.

"Wait here."

He disappeared, although he left his shadow in the corner of the room. Rukh.

Leia's first instinct was to wonder whether she could turn the situation to her advantage somehow, but there was no blaster in sight ... only the droids. The droids themselves were weapons, of course, deadly and unpredictable, programmed to destroy everything and everyone in their path. Except that these here, probably, hadn't worked in years. Plus, they too seemed to have no weapons she could detach and use. If she would have had Luke's skills, then perhaps she might have been able to turn them into weapons by lifting them or pushing them with the Force. Preferably against the Grand Admiral.

She approached one of the droids and felt Rukh's watchful eyes on her back. She pretended to be interested in the old machines - they were in surprisingly good condition, she thought. As if they were polished regularly, there certainly was no dust on them. In some places, the armour was slightly worn out, which indicated that these robots were not some warehouse models, but real battle droids that had killed once.

Leia touched one of the droids and then, terrified, quickly pulled her hand back, afraid to unintentionally wake up this terrible metal-beast.

Such robots had been fought by Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. And some Jedi probably had died because of them. After all, even a Jedi could be killed. _Was this realization the reason she was here? Or was she thinking too much?_

She turned at the sound of footsteps. And almost at the same time Leia realized one thing: she was caught. The Grand Admiral had trapped her here with only one way out - passed the battle droids! And she had followed him - voluntarily! Leia tried to calm her senses. The droids were old. They were out of order. Hadn't been used in ages. _Right? _Suddenly, she became suspicious that such well-looked-after machines had to be operational, and Thrawn was a madman who... _might enjoy killing her in a spectacular way?!_

The feeling got worse when she saw a lightsaber in his hands.

No. Wait a minute. The Grand Admiral was no Sith, and certainly no Jedi! He simply liked bizarre, intellectual games and now he had just arranged a scene which resembled the Clone Wars: the time of Jedi glory - and their downfall. Maybe it was just a weird history lesson. Well, whatever it was, Leia didn't like it.

"An elegant weapon," Thrawn said and then, in an unnecessary motion, demonstrated the lightsaber. "And very dangerous in the hands of someone who knows how to use it."

"Did you take it from its original owner, Admiral?" Leia asked, slightly provocatively. "Or did you simply buy it at an illegal antique auction?"

"That particular Jedi did not die by my hand, Princess," he replied and with that clearly implied that he had _some_ Jedi on his conscience.

"However, this is of no relevance. The owner of this sword has no need for it anymore and it would be a shame not to use it when a fitting occasion arises."

_He wasn't stupid enough to hand her a lightsaber, was he?_ _She didn't need the Force to know how to saw it through an opponent! After she had figured out how to activate it, of course..._

"Twenty minutes," Thrawn said.

It was hard to tell whether he was talking to her or Rukh.

And then he added, this time undoubtedly directing his words at her: "I will keep a close eye on everything."

He pointed to one of the cameras on the ceiling in a careless motion.

"Good luck."

He put the lightsaber on the floor and then left the room. The Princess quickly moved towards the door, but then ran into a wall, which suddenly had come down from the ceiling in front of her, cutting her off from the only exit.

Leia turned around and looked at Rukh, who, despite the imminent danger, had not left his post. He didn't seem nervous. He had some kind of gun on him, Leia couldn't precisely define it, but still - the situation should worry him at least a little bit!

Leia looked at the lightsaber - what if she couldn't wield it? And then at the two terrifying robots ... that had just come to life.

**TBC**


	4. The Test

**Chapter 4 – The Test**

Without thinking Leia ran to the lightsaber. She had seen Holos and pictures of lightsabers, but having one in your own hand was, as so often, quite different. She didn’t even know how to activate the bloody thing without stabbing herself in the process. Thus, she held it in front of her chest, in a safe distance and in a horizontal position. The energy-blade had to leave the device at one of the end-pieces after all. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the button and with a quick, swishing sound, a bright white blade suddenly appeared out of the cylinder’s left end.

_Perfect._

Then she studied the grey monsters in front of her. B2 battle droids. Better known as ‘super battle droids.’ She had never actually seen them in action. Well, she had seen them in Holos, just like the lightsabers, but the memory alone was enough to put her in panic mode now. B2s were much stronger than their predecessors.

_Frack!_

_Calm down, Leia! They are robots! They can’t think! They know a basic number of attack modes, but that’s it. _

She looked around. If she could somehow surprise them….somehow think out of the box. But there was nothing besides grey walls here. Nothing to work with.

_Frack! _

_She would slice that blue bastard in two should she ever make it out of here!_

Mechanically, but not inept, the first droid came over. To her surprise, it wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t slow either. The second one simply waited, what for, she didn’t know. Perhaps its program told him that she wasn’t enough of a threat to require both of their attentions.

Her first instinct was to run, but where to?

She looked at Rukh, who was just standing there, watching. _Great! No assistance there then._

Suddenly, the B2 that was approaching her lifted an arm and to Leia’s relief, it was the model that hadn’t got a blaster attached to his hand. But when he reached behind his back, he revealed - a huge, deadly bayonet that was coming straight down on her.

Reflexes took over. Leia dodged right in time and then ran - right into another wall.

_Frack._

With the ignited lightsaber still in hand, she turned around and refocussed.

_Well, if she was going to die anyway, she would at least give the toasters a good fight! _

Without really knowing what she was doing, Leia swung the sword at the droid several times, but without avail. She couldn’t hurt it without getting closer and that seemed to be a bad idea. In the end, the droid made the decision for her and moved forward. With that, Leia took her chance, aimed with the sword at the monster’s chest, missed and was then sent to the floor by a solid, metal arm. She landed - hard. Her head was dizzy and to make things worse, the lightsaber had fallen out of her hand. Before the Princess had realised the gravity of the situation, the B2 battle droid had already picked her up, by the throat. _She couldn’t breathe!_ Instinctively, she kicked hard, trying to find some hold for her feet; she struggled and unsuccessfully tried to loosen the droid’s steal grip.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the lightsaber lying on the ground. She reached out for it. _If she had the Force if she could only use the Force, then… _

_Air! She needed air!_

All of a sudden, there was peace. This strange calmness and peace that sometimes overcame her when things became too much to bear: When her grandmother had died when she had been tortured by Vader, after Alderaan had exploded, and when she had reached for Luke at Bespin. Like the world became quiet, slowed down and there was strength too.

_‘You only have to believe in it.’_ A calm voice said in her mind.

And so she did.

Abruptly, she was pulled back to reality, the sword ignited in her hand. With a single blow, she struck down the droid, fell to the floor and gasped for air. Blaster bolts unexpectedly hit the wall behind her. The second B2 model obviously was the upgraded model. But now she didn’t think anymore, she just reacted. Like in trance, the humming blade moved upwards and effortlessly reflected the shots. There was no intended direction to speak of yet, but that also wasn’t necessary. With determent steps, the Princess closed the distance between herself and the battle droid until she stood right in front of it and with one final stroke beheaded the droid.

The head fell to the ground and the fiery eyes went out; a moment later, it's heavy body came crashing to the floor.

Finally, Leia came back to her senses and almost bewilderedly looked down at the still smoking droid. _Had she really just done that?_

Then a single applause was heard. Leia turned her head to see the Grand Admiral leaning in the, now open, door frame.

“Well done, your Highness.”

“You!” Leia roared, reactivated her lightsaber and moved with quick steps towards the blue alien and, without a warning, ran straight into an energy field.

“Not so quick, Princess.” He smiled. “Do you really think I would give you a lightsaber without thinking about security measures?”

She hit the energy field with her blade several times, in the place where she could make out his head.

“I hate you!” She spat out.

The Imperial chuckled quietly.

“I guess I see some resemblance now.”

She was shaking with anger. _Who did he think he was? Mocking her after…_

“I could have died!” She yelled.

“Oh no. I had it under control.”

“Under control?! I nearly suffocated!”

He shook his head and lifted a bio-scanner, showing her vital functions.

“You were suffering from oxygen deprivation, but your levels were nowhere near fatal.” He studied her through the, mostly transparent, bluish-white border.

“Are you implying you would have stopped him?” Leia asked, her voice filled with disbelieve.

“In your current state, what I say is of little importance.”

“Whatever.”

Suddenly the Princess noticed a shadow.

“What the…” But it was already too late. _Rukh!_ In her anger, she had totally forgotten about the little creature! The world became blurry.

“One more proof to validate my theory.” She heard the annoyingly cultivated voice of the Imperial.

Then the world turned black.

*******

When Leia woke up again, she was lying on her bed, still fully dressed. With a groan, she sat up. Everything hurt and she was sure that she had some bruises on her left arm and on her back. She stretched as well as she could and then looked around in the semi-darkness.

_Frack…_

Leia took off her boots and then lay down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened.

It was still hard to believe. Everything felt like a nightmare from which she just couldn’t wake up. Well, truth to be told, everything that had happened ever since the Empire had taken her prisoner, on that faithful day onboard the _Tantive IV _above Tatooine, did. But back then she had had her friends, Luke and Han and the whole Rebellion. Now she was all alone…

Well, not quite, apparently, she had a strong ally: the Force. Leia looked at the fruit bowl opposite the bed, then focused on an apple and reached out her hand. Nothing. She tried again. This time with her eyes closed. Nothing. Then she pictured the apple in her mind like the voice had told her during the fight. Still nothing. The Princess squinted her eyes, held her breath, opened and closed her hand, pictured the apple flying into her hand, tried to feel _something_. Still, nothing happened. With a frustrated groan, Leia hit the mattress, got up and took the apple the old-fashioned way. Apparently, using the Force wasn’t that easy.

_And had the Grand Admiral known?_ _Had he known that only in an extreme, life-or-death situation, she would be able to call upon its help? Perhaps… _

Still, she was furious about what he had done. _He…_ _What was his name again? Thrawn?... _Sounded weird. Strange. Just like himself._ What was he anyway? _She didn’t know. But he was arrogant and complacent. For him, she was just a tool, Leia was sure of it. He needed her for something and for as long as that was true, he probably wouldn’t hurt her, but once she had outlived that usefulness, he would discard of her within the blink of an eye. Therefore, she was also doubtful about the bio-scanner he had shown her afterwards. If she hadn’t been able to use the Force, if he had been wrong about her, she would just have been another Rebel to him. _Or not…_ No, the Princess concluded, he had been telling the truth, because even if she had not been able to use the Force, there was still a large bounty on her head; after all, it had been her, who had smuggled the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. In that case, he probably would have brought her to Coruscant. Palpatine would love to get his hands on her. To give the public a nice propaganda ‘trial’, which, without a doubt, would end in a public execution. Fortunately, that hadn’t happened – yet. 

She had no idea how the Grand Admiral planned to use her. At the moment she couldn’t even get an apple with the Force! _What was his plan?_

She threw herself on the bed again and slowly ate the apple. And what about that voice? It had sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t really place her finger on it. She had heard it before…_But when? Sometime in the past? When she had been little? Or in a dream? She wasn’t even sure whether the voice had been male or female. It all had happened so fast and the only thing on her mind had been to refill her lungs with air. The voice… It hadn’t been Luke and it surely hadn’t been old Obi-Wan Kenobi..._

Kenobi…An old friend of her father. A Jedi. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was a connection. He was the only Jedi she knew and also the only one her family had a connection to. But then again, there was so much she didn’t know. And whenever the Jedi were concerned it had always been pretty hush-hush. It just wasn’t a topic you should be interested in if you valued your career.

_She a Jedi? A Sith?_ The thought was still laughable. On the other hand, the sword in her hand had felt so right… Leia smiled when she remembered the many times she and Winter had fought in the grand Palace gardens. Both of them had held wooden sticks in their hands and had duelled each other. They had pretended to be knights and kings, fighting for glory and honour or against a terrible monster. Their parents had always chastised them afterwards: You shouldn’t play violent games. Even if it was only playing pretend – war and weapons were bad. And it was unprincesslike. Looking back, it felt like her father had only looked at her while giving his sermon. _Had he known? _

Leia swallowed. She couldn’t even say it in her head. It was unthinkable. She was not the child of that monster! She knew she had been adopted. And it looked like there was a distinct possibility that one of her biological parents had been a Jedi – or a Sith. But not HIM! Thrawn could have faked that data. _But why should he do that?_ A treacherous voice in the back of her mind asked. Making her Vader’s daughter would NOT bring her closer to the Empire. If anything, it reminded her of how terrible the Empire was and why you should destroy it at any cost. And he knew that. So why say it? _Because it might be true? No! NEVER! She was NOTHING like him!_

‘I guess I see some resemblance now.’ She suddenly heard Thrawn’s voice in her head.

_Frack!_

This was going nowhere. With a sigh, the Princess got up. Perhaps she should take a shower.

**TBC**


	5. Musings of a Princess in Peril

**Chapter 5 – Musings of a Princess in Peril **

“Luke!”, Leia cried out in her thoughts, in a wave of desperate hope that this type of communication would work both ways.

The Princess wanted to make sure that the young Jedi and the rest of her friends were unharmed, and if she could include more information in this telepathic message, she also wanted to mention the Grand Admiral who had imprisoned her, believing that she had the same power as Vader… her father.

However, she couldn't tell anyone that Darth Vader was her biological father until Thrawn's suspicions were confirmed, a moment Leia, surely, didn’t hope for, because then, she would have to face an uncomfortable truth (if it was the truth!): _that the Rebellion was led by Vader's daughter_. _And how many people would lose faith in her then?_

_No! It had to be a lie! _She had been slandered in various ways, but nobody had ever called her _Sithspawn _yet! Although, Imperial propaganda was becoming more and more imaginative in this regard.

_Princess Leia, Vader's _ _daughter? That was a good one!_

But a lie, repeated a thousand times, easily became a truth in many people’s minds. And she couldn't prove, in any way, that she wasn't the Dark Lord's child. Actually, it was common knowledge that she had been adopted by Bail and Breha Organa. _So, who were her biological parents?_ Those who knew their identity probably had died a long time ago, in the Clone Wars, or in the subsequent purges, or in the destruction of Alderaan. And those documents Thrawn had been talking about, the birth certificate and adoption papers, she didn’t believe in them. If such documents had _ever_ existed, they probably had disappeared a long time ago, for a lot of reasons. Leia sighed and pondered about her thoughts. Before now, she had never been particularly interested in the subject. _And why should she have been? What would have been the point?_

Now, however, it looked like her origin might, indeed, be of great importance, and Grand Admiral Thrawn was more than capable of using her ignorance for his own advantage. He easily could have presented some fake ‘evidence’ to label her as Vader’s daughter. If Thrawn would announce this, would any of the Rebels rush to her help? Perhaps Luke would... although the Princess wasn't even sure about that as she remembered something the young Jedi had mentioned after Kenobi's death – that it had been Vader who had murdered his father. Well, a Jedi might not seek revenge, but still, it was their duty to fight the Sith, the Dark Side. _So, had she become his enemy now? Because of her origin?_

Luke didn't answer her call. Maybe he deliberately ignored her. No, not Luke. Not the boy from Tatooine who had come to the Death Star to save her. The young man with whom the Princess had become so close she treated him like a brother. No. The Luke she knew wouldn't blame her for something she didn't have any influence on. If he did not answer her call, it simply meant that he was unable to do so at the moment... or that he did not hear her. Perhaps something had happened in Jabba's palace that distracted him? Or perhaps his life was in danger right now?

With her heart beating faster, Leia listened to the silence for a moment. She tried to ‘see’ Luke, but the images that appeared in her head might as well have been a product of her imagination. They were nothing but fragments of memories.

She wondered who could have the answers to the questions which tormented her. _Kenobi? Was it possible to talk to a ghost? _Perhaps, but the Princess decided that it was probably easier to establish a mental connection with a living person. Maybe she should turn to Yoda for help. But Yoda was somewhere far away, hiding, and probably didn't want to talk to Vader's daughter. Yes, come to think of it, Yoda's silence made perfect sense: he probably wouldn’t have told her the truth to start with, for her own good. To keep her safe.

Unfortunately, now, the Jedi's graciousness was of little use to her. _Was Vader her biological father? _Leia needed a simple answer: confirmation or denial. And she couldn't mindlessly scream her question into the vastness of space as there was a fair chance that Vader or the Emperor might hear her instead of the centuries-old Jedi Master. And she definitely preferred to keep them in the dark - not only about her supposed origin but also about her Force sensitivity.

_Thrawn hadn’t told them about her yet, had he? _Well, he was quite a meticulous officer and therefore probably checked everything thoroughly, perhaps even several times, before presenting Palpatine with the results of his researches and analyses. She could probably call herself lucky that he was such a perfectionist. If the Grand Admiral truly wanted to be certain of her origin, he had to compare her genetic material to that of the Dark Lord, which might be tricky to obtain without revealing his plans to Vader. _Well, good luck with that!_

The Princess stopped in front of the mirror for a moment and looked at her reflection. _Did she resemble Vader in any way? If he were to take off the mask, would she see a familiar face?_

It was much easier to identify the traits Leia had inherited from Padmé Amidala. Of course, all the similarities she thought she saw might be the results of nothing but the power of suggestion, but the Princess thought her walnut eyes were the same as those in the portrait of the late queen and the senator of Naboo. Hair, fair complexion... yes, they were identical. The shape of her nose was probably a little bit different, but her lips sometimes took on a similar expression to that on Amidala's face in the portrait.

Up until now, Leia had thought that her ‘resemblance’ with Padmé was due to their political and public similarities: every diplomat had certain gestures and facial expression in his or her repertoire, and certain learned behaviours, which became, after a while, like a second nature of every public person, especially if they belonged to the aristocracy.

Padmé must have been small, tiny just like Leia, because she certainly could not have inherited that from her father. Vader had an impressive statue... even if he moved on his prosthetic legs, which, probably, even added a few additional centimetres to his height. The Princess shuddered at the thought that, perhaps, the Emperor might want to ‘improve’ her in a similar way: modify her body, or directly transplant her organs to some robot. And would such an action impede her from having feelings and make her forget who she used to be?

When Leia went into the fresher, she rejoiced in the fact that she had a human body. Aching, bruised, but still human! She knew she would never accept a transformation like Vader’s. No matter what drove him. For a moment she wondered whether he had agreed to such a drastic operation…But even if it had been the only way to stay alive, the Princess would never follow his example. At least, in this case, she differed from the Dark Lord. And every difference she spotted was a pleasing discovery at the moment.

The noise of flowing water had a soothing effect on her. It was unbelievable how extravagant the Empire allowed itself to be! Real water on a Star Destroyer? Or maybe it was only her ‘guest quarters’ which provided this kind of luxury?

Thrawn treated her much better in this respect than Tarkin had done. On the other hand, the Grand Moff had doubted Leia's usefulness and, as soon as he had gotten what he wanted, the very much needed, albeit false, information concerning the location of the rebel base, he had been ready to kill her. The Grand Admiral, however, seemed to have plans to imprison her on this ship for much longer, and his kindness was, therefore, probably no less calculated than Tarkin’s cruelty had been.

It had to be some sort of psychological game: fresh fruit, running water... It was all aimed at dulling her vigilance somehow. He wanted to calm her down, make her feel safe and with that less rebellious and more open to suggestion. But Leia was neither easily deceived nor charmed, not even if the Grand Admiral decided to bring a bottle of delicious, and nearly impossible to get, Alderaanian wine along! Leia almost laughed at the mental picture, but then stopped as it brought along another idea. _What if she played along? Pretended to be appeased and grateful, and let her female charm work its magic?_ He was an Imperial Grand Admiral, but before that he was a man and in more than one negotiation she had found that one of a woman's most powerful weapons is, indeed, embracing her femininity.

And she had to find a way out of here! Otherwise, she would go mad. Her quarters were a prison cell, even if, at first glance, they didn’t look like it. And the ‘tests’ of her abilities were like torture. The battle droid had tried to strangle her, and Thrawn had been watching! Well, she believed him when he said he wouldn't let her die. No, that was not his plan. Not yet at least. But that did not help her to feel safe! He had literally brought her to the verge of life and death to see if she could instinctively use the Force and if he had done that, it wasn’t a far stretch to imagine that there would be riskier ‘tests’ ahead.

And no matter what she did, she was doomed to fail. If she had not succeeded against the droid the first time, the Grand Admiral might have saved her life in the last moment, but he would have made it a painful lesson. Contusions and bruises, a few open wounds and fractures, she guessed. And, perhaps, after the session - Thrawn might have wished for repetitions until she had passed the ‘test’? And then the following medical treatments would have brought her closer to becoming a cyborg? ‘Lady Vader’?

But by winning against the robots, she had lost too because for Thrawn it had been another piece of evidence to support his crazy theory and now he might plan to go even further, raising the bar, so to speak. She was almost sure that the next ‘test’ he had in store for her would be a lot more difficult than fighting a droid. And the Grand Admiral would continue tormenting her until he had what he was looking for: Certified, empirical knowledge.

**TBC**


	6. Of Teachers and Students

**Chapter 6 – Of Teachers and Students**

Leia still lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, when the door opened with a swishing sound.

“Just put the food on the table.” She said without bothering to look aside. The stormtroopers didn’t talk to her anyway, so why bother to be nice?

“Still in bed?” A calm voice asked.

Leia shot up as if a flash of lightning had hit her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked bewildered, glaring at the unlikely intruder.

He didn’t answer.

“It is 15:00 hours.”

“And how would I know? Night and day - it all feels the same. That’s what solitary confinement does to you.” That and _other things_… You started to think, about a great many things…

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, but my back still hurts.”

He placed a white tin on the table.

“With best wishes from the doctor.”

Leia reached for her white, silk dressing gown, put it on and slowly walked over to him.

“Thanks.”

“Anything else you need?”

“My freedom,” Leia suggested a coquettish spark in her eye.

“Nice try. But you know I cannot do that.” The near-human said.

Leia leaned against the wall, next to him and bit her lower lip.

“The way I see it, you can do whatever you want.”

He laughed. It was the first real laugh Leia had ever heard of him. Well, it was good to know that he _could_ laugh, but it was not the reaction she had been aiming for.

"What’s so funny?"

"Your seduction attempt." He said and it sounded somewhat derogative.

"What? No! What makes you say that?”

He cocked an eyebrow and looked at her.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

In a frustrated gesture, Leia shook her head and then crossed her arms in front of her chest. She hadn’t really meant to _seduce_ him. _Just to_…. Anyway, as it turned out, it had been a stupid idea. Obviously, there was only one person he liked: himself.

"I guess I should have known your kind hatches, as cold as you are."

He chuckled.

”It is good to have your poisonous-self back, your highness.” He titled his head. “But - you could be right.“ He said, challengingly.

"Or you procreate somehow artificially." Leia spat.

"Or I am androgynous?" The Grand Admiral suggested. 

Now Leia almost laughed out. Yes, almost anything was possible, but as a crown Princess and diplomat she had seen some androgynous species and usually, they neither appeared very male or female, whereas Thrawn had quite obvious markers that declared him as male: voice, stature, bearing.

"I doubt that." She said finally, eying him once more.

Actually, it was quite remarkable how similar he was to a Human man. But perhaps the similarities ended there.

"Or you wouldn't be able to satisfy me?"

"Because of my alienness?"

"Well, you _are_ different."

"I have had my fair share of Human xenophobia, Princess. So…do not bother."

Well, THAT she believed. It was still hard to imagine that he was in command of so many Humans. Imperials! He had to be really good if Palpatine gave him so much power. And she was angry about herself. This had been low.

"I guess the thought that I just do not like you did not cross your mind." The near-human said, put a hand against the wall next to her and then looked right into her eyes.

No, not really. If she were that unappealing Jabba surely wouldn't have made her his `Prime Slave Girl’, chained to him alone. _Not that that was anything to be proud of! _

"Human females in general, I take it,” Leia said confidently.

"No, just you."

_Ouch..._

"I don't like you either."

"Good. Finally, something we have in common."

Leia sighed.

“And even if I did.” The near-human said finally. “I would never let you go.”

“I guess not.” The Princess said. “But you can't blame me for trying."

"I do not. Actually, I would have been disappointed if you had not tried." There was a small smile on his face. "To be honest, you have shown a remarkably wide range of escape attempts. My personal favourite was when you tried to bypass the door's opening mechanism with a hairpin and shampoo."

Leia rolled her eyes, walked back to the bed and then sat down on its edge, resting her head in her hands. _They had been watching. OF COURSE, they had been watching! _Still, she couldn’t help but blush_. Had he seen her naked? Or were his private, evening peep-shows limited to her escape-attempts? What did it matter? She couldn't change a thing._

Looking up to the tall alien, the Princess sighed.

"I had to do something. _Anything_ really." She shook her head. "This place is driving me mad. And I never understood those stupid girls in Holos that never even tried to escape and used the opportunities available."

"Agreed."

"You don't make it easy, I'll give you that." Leia smiled.

“I went to Jabba to get you, so I am not letting you escape that easily.”

“What do you want from me?” Leia asked again. And again, he did not give her a straight answer but put a strange object on the table.

_Why hadn’t she seen that before? Where had he hidden it? _Well, it didn’t matter. Now it was here.

“Your mind needs something to occupy itself with.”

It was a pyramid-shaped object, decorated with some unknown, black writings.

“It is a Holocron,” Thrawn explained. “Jedi and Sith alike used it to preserve and pass on knowledge. You may touch it.” He added when he saw Leia’s hesitation.

The Princess instinctively stretched out her hand towards the object in front of her, reached for it, and..., in the last second, she realized that she should not touch this ‘Holocron’. After all, she didn't really know what it was or how it worked. And, perhaps, this was just another ‘test’.

“Is this a Jedi or a Sith Holocron?”, she asked suspiciously.

Of course, Thrawn could have lied, but... usually, she was quite good at recognizing deception. _Maybe it was the Force that helped her in that regard? Or was it simply the years and years of political experience? _Whatever it was, the Grand Admiral was not as easy to read as other people. He had an exceptionally inexpressive face. Whether it was a result of training or a mere typical feature of his species the Princess couldn’t say, but one thing was sure: she couldn't read anything in it and thus, any statement about the verisimilitude of his statements would be nothing but a guess. She would certainly have a problem if she were ever to decide to play sabacc with him.

The Admiral smiled a little and said: “It's a Sith Holocron.”

Immediately she withdrew her hand and leaned back in her chair.

“Then I'm not going to touch it,” she said.

Thrawn frowned at her words.

“Knowledge is knowledge,” he replied. “It does not matter whether it comes from a Sith or a Jedi.”

“I will never be a Sith,” Leia stated. “I don't have to, and I don't want to.”

The Admiral tapped his finger on the Holocron, showing his impatience.

“Without it, you will not learn how to control the Force. And without that ability, you will be useless in the long run.”

_Was that a threat? Did he think he could scare her with that? _Unfortunately for him, Leia had dealt with people like him before. She had participated in many difficult negotiations and, therefore, knew from experience that she did not have to accept the conditions an opponent tried to impose upon her. Especially not during the first meeting. And she knew she could state her own.

“You want me to learn the ways of the Force? Fine. But I will follow the Jedi path.”

“And how exactly do you plan to accomplish that, your highness?”, Thrawn asked in this very typical, polite manner.

This courtesy of his, which was not suited to the situation, made Leia believe that the Admiral was quite irritated by her refusal.

“Luke.” The Princess said then. “He can train me.”

In response, she heard a short: “No.”

“Then why don't you go and find another teacher for me? Some kind of Jedi Master?”, she provoked him and then bit her tongue as to not unintentionally mention Yoda to him.

If she could find Yoda, he might help her – he had agreed to train Luke - but the Princess knew better than to speak her mind. After all, Thrawn could not be trusted and Master Yoda was hiding for a reason. Therefore, telling an Imperial Grand Admiral about his whereabouts did not sound like a good idea, even more so if one considered who Thrawn served.

His red eyes shone ominously before their owner unexpectedly announced: “All right. I'll find a different teacher for you.”

***

The Admiral brought her another Holocron and this time the artifact in question looked like a cube. The Princess noticed that Thrawn touched these objects with gloves, like a museum worker. As if they were very valuable or... cursed. _One of them is __a __kriffing Sith Holocron! There is a good chan__c__e it__‘s__ cursed!_ she thought. Angry at herself that she hadn’t thought about this before.

Finally, she got a better look at the cube_. If it was created by a Jedi, it should be safe to use it, shouldn't it?_

“This one is not that old”, Thrawn told her. “I would estimate that it was created just a few years before the Clone Wars. It was constructed by a Human... and these symbols suggest that its creator must have come from Haruun Kal.”

He pointed with his finger at one of the walls, at a schematic drawing of some reptile.

“A lizard?” 

“It is an Akk dog,” he explained. “A guardian of secrets.”

The Princess rolled her eyes.

“Do you have any idea how to open it?” she asked directly.

The Grand Admiral passed her the Holocron and Leia carefully took the object with both hands, looking at it from all sides.

_It wasn't a puzzle_, she thought. _Otherwise, Thrawn would have found __the__ solution __on his own__, and if he hadn't managed to __open it yet__, it__ was probably because__ the Holocron could o__nly be __opened __by a__ person who __could become __a Jedi._

The Princess closed her eyes. She concentrated.

Then she heard the sound of an object falling apart and a low voice that spoke to her:

“I am the creator and the guardian of this Holocron. My name is Mace Windu.”

****

_Mace Windu? _ _Hadn’t _ _she heard that name before? Father... Bail must have mentioned it when he had told her about the Clone Wars and the Jedi!_

She opened her eyes and looked at the holographic image of a black man.

“Master Windu”, she said thrilled, but not without concern. “It's an honour to meet you.”

Windu looked curiously at the young woman and then at Thrawn, who was standing next to her, but quickly lost interest in him, before the watchful gaze of his dark eyes was fixed on her again.

“Who are you?” he asked. “And who trained you?”

Suddenly, Leia felt embarrassed.

“Nobody. Yet.”

Mace raised his eyebrows: “That‘s too bad.”

Leia smiled at him, full of hope. She was so excited to finally be able to talk to a fully trained Jedi. No, a Jedi Master! A legend! And to be able to take lessons with him!

Well, that had been before he had robbed her from that prospect: “I cannot share my knowledge with you”.

Astonished - but also outraged - Leia was lost for words and looked at Thrawn, who didn't seem surprised by Master Windu's answer.

“What? Why?”

She asked a note of desperation in her voice. Not so much because of the Jedi training, but because she needed a powerful ally, someone like Mace Windu, to escape from Thrawn and this ship and to help her friends and the Rebellion.

Master Windu could give her some tips at least! Like how to open the locked door of her "cell" with the Force or how to disarm the guards... And she would like to learn how to use or confuse people like Luke had tried at Jabba‘s Palace. Mind control. But, to be honest, at the moment, she would be satisfied with anything that could help her.

“You're too old to start training,” the Jedi Master said. “I'm sorry.”

It didn't sound like he was sorry at all!

“I'm not too old!” Leia said offendedly. “Luke is my age and he only recently became a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan became his Master and...”

She wanted to tell Mace about Yoda, but, unfortunately, the enemy was listening - with great attention.

“Obi-Wan,” Windu repeated immediately. “Then he is as reckless as his Master once was. I’m surprised the Council allowed him the training of someone who is already mentally fully formed and who is bound to have convictions contrary to Jedi doctrine. They usually don‘t do that.”

Leia swallowed. He had no idea about what had happened to the Jedi Order. And perhaps that was a good thing, after all, during a negotiation, it was usually beneficial to keep one’s interlocutor in a _favourable_ mood.

“I don’t understand why that should matter. Knowledge is knowledge,” the Princess replied and with that quoted Thrawn's earlier words. “You can teach me how to use the Force.”

“You don’t understand. The danger of accepting someone like you as a padawan is too great,” the dark-skinned Jedi Master said. “At this age, you won't be able to learn how to control your emotions, and if you give in to them, you'll be attracted by the Dark Side. A Jedi can't feel attachment, want or desire. It's easier for a child to give up something he or she has never known. An adult, on the other hand, will feel it as a loss and then resent and rebel against such rules. I will not train you, because if I did, I would not train a future Jedi, but a Sith.”

Leia swallowed nervously.

“The Jedi Order doesn’t exist anymore,” she said and tried a different approach. “The Sith killed almost all the Jedi. That's why Obi-Wan made an exception with Luke. He trained him because he didn't want the knowledge of the Jedi to die with him. Other Jedi, undoubtedly, would have done the same. The situation has changed. You can no longer follow those outdated rules. Your advice could help me to defeat the Sith.”

Leia felt Thrawn's burning eyes on her but chose to ignore him. She had to convince Mace Windu to help her. Her and the entire Rebellion.

“There are always two of them,” Master Windu said with a straight face. “A master and a student. That's their doctrine. How could two Sith defeat the entire Jedi Order?”

“They didn't play fair,” Leia replied. “They used trickery and lies.”

For a moment, the Jedi Master looked at her in silence, before he finally spoke:

“There's something about you that's... disturbing. The passion with which you speak… There’s much anger in you. Anger and... pain. You lost someone - because of the Sith?”

“Yes”, she admitted.

“Then we should stop right here,…” Windu said. “… as seeking revenge is not the Jedi path.”

“I won't if you agree to teach me.”

He looked into her eyes for a long time and Leia recognized his hesitation.

“It's against the rules,” he concluded then, stubbornly.

“But ...”

Her protest might sound childish, but she wasn't going to give up so easily.

“I've already used the Force once,” she acclaimed proudly. “I managed to do it, even though nobody taught me. And I want to do it again, consciously this time.”

“How did you use the Force?” Windu asked.

“I summoned a lightsaber and beheaded a droid with it!” Leia explained proudly.

However, the Jedi Master didn’t look impressed. Instead, he frowned.

“The Jedi use the Force to defend themselves, never to attack.”

“I was defending myself!”

“You're not ready to use the Force in combat. Your action was irresponsible - you could not only have hurt yourself but others too.”

“That's why I need your help. Please.”

_Obi-Wan would help me_, she thought.

“The more you can do, the more you have to limit yourself to not use your skills in the wrong way,” Windu explained. “Consider this my first and only advice to you: A Jedi must be calm and impartial. He never attacks first. He only uses his sword to defend the innocent or when there is no other way. You have to give up your previous beliefs and renounce your emotions or give up your Force training. You can keep one or the other, but combined, they will become a force of evil.”

Leia became worried. _Was Mace Windu suggesting that she was somehow predestined to become a Sith? That she would have to change completely to prevent it? And that if she wanted to remain herself, Princess Leia, she should not use the Force? Ever? _

“Enough”, she heard Thrawn's commanding voice.

With some regret - but also some relief - she turned off the Holocron.

Then she looked at the Grand Admiral and envied him somewhat. _He_ could control his emotions. He was much better at it than she would ever be. Mace Windu probably would have trained him in a heartbeat, if one neglected the fact that Thrawn too was “too old.” And Force-blind.

It sounded funny because at first glance this blue alien looked younger than he was. That at least was her impression, based on observation, logic and experience with other species. Leia tried to guess how old he could be and, therefore, closely looked at his face, trying to find some wrinkles that would betray his age, but Thrawn - probably thanks to his inhuman genes - had the face of a young man. His dark hair had no grey strains in it yet and the muscles under his white uniform clearly showed that the Admiral worked out – a lot. She caught herself staring at him thoughtlessly, assessing him. There was no denying his attractiveness. He lived and breathed authority; had a great voice…and he was tall, taller than Han and probably he was also a lot stronger than him. Leia felt her pulse quicken. Yes, he was attractive….. With an ego to match. Leia smiled.

Another point for Master Windu: he was right. She was having trouble controlling her emotions. Even worse: she saw good qualities in her enemy! She hated Thrawn, but she couldn't deny that he was a handsome man.

Later, she remembered that Han had also annoyed her at the beginning.

“I already had my suspicions about the usefulness of the Jedi Holocron,” Thrawn explained as he packed it back into the black and silver suitcase he had brought it along with.

“Ready for the Sith version?” He asked ominously, a small smile on his handsome face.

Leia bit her lower lip and glanced into the suitcase. Yes, there was a second Holocron inside, pressed into the black protective foam. She was starving for some meaning in her daily-routine and there was genuine curiosity too and Thrawn knew it. _In how far would the two Holocrons differ? Who would be the Sith teacher? And would he train her?_ If what Master Windu had told her was true, chances were he would.

Hands in white gloves put the first Holocron back on the table, tempting her to abandon her faith. The Sith were evil. But with this Holocron Thrawn also provided her with a chance to fight fire with fire. What had her father said again when they had stolen the Death Star plans? ‘Drastic times call for drastic measures.’ Leia swallowed. Perhaps this was the only way. She needed to get out of here and somehow Leia felt the pressure or, better, the _pull _of the object. It _wanted_ her to touch it. To communicate with her. 

Slowly Leia’s fingers glided over the material.

_Shouldn’t it be cold?_

But it wasn’t. It felt warm and alive and, oddly enough, in a strange way nothing had ever felt more right. 

Then it came to life. It shimmered, pulsated a in a red light and then the four corners opened and the Holocron unlocked itself. Leia’s mouth fell open. 

“Fascinating.” The near-human commented, in his usual, restrained manner.

“Is that normal?” Leia asked as she eyed the glowing object in her hand.

“I would not know.”

“It never opened before?” Leia’s eyes widened in surprise and then she put the object back on the table. “Weren’t you curious what’s inside?”

The near-human smiled. “I was and I still am curious. But it would not open to me.”

“Because you don’t have the Force.”

“Correct and, quite possibly, because I lack the necessary mindset.” He looked at Leia and smiled. That she could see. He was too controlled for a Sith. “Your situation stirred you up. You are discontent and bitter and in need of help. And you are … angry.”

“Oh, thanks a lot for…._bringing me in the right mood_, Admiral! I would say you succeeded!” She glared at him, angry about the realisation that he was playing her.

“Agreed.”

A small, dark figure appeared all of a sudden. A man, Human, probably in his seventies.

“Welcome, my young student. My name is Darth Erciil. What is it you seek?”

“Knowledge about the Force,” Thrawn said without hesitation and with a quick side-glance, Leia looked at the near-human. Before that, he had been quiet. _What was different now? Was he more comfortable in this master’s presence? Because he knew Sith? Had worked with them? Strange…_

The figure turned around and glared at the Imperial.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

Leia smiled. “I kind of like him.”

Thrawn ignored her provocation.

“It is baffling how they managed to create such a self-aware flexible and responsive Holocrons thousands of years ago, would you not agree? Even today’s technology has not caught up.”

“Thousands of years?” The Holocron repeated. “What time is it?”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” The near-human said in turn and Leia smiled.

“You are lucky my powers weren’t transported along my knowledge, or you would scream in pain now.”

Thrawn shook his head, unimpressed by the holograms’ threats and then lifted two of the pyramids’ walls simultaneously, deactivating the device.

“Force users tend to find me disagreeable.” He said. “I got used to it.”

“I can’t understand why.”

Leia said, apparent irony dripping from her words and returned to the bed. Then she studied the suitcase.

“How many of those Holocrons do you have?”

“Three.” The near-human explained. “Two Jedi and one Sith Holocron. They are quite valuable and hard to get.”

“Because they are forbidden?”

“Yes. And because your father collects them. He is quite persistent in completing his collection.”

Leia could only wonder why. _To destroy the Jedi Holocrons? To prevent people like her from self-studying? From becoming a threat? _

“So you want me to study the Force?” She looked up at the near-human. “I don’t understand. I mean - Why? What if I succeed? You kidnapped me, for Sith’s sake!”

“I rescued you.”

“Rescued?” Leia laughed. “I’m your prisoner!”

“Guest.” Thrawn offered.

“Semantics, Grand Admiral. Just to make one thing clear: I hate you. I hate the Empire. And providing the enemy with the opportunity to gain power is stupid. I would kill you at the first opportunity and rejoin the Rebellion.” She studied the man who still stood in front of the window. _….But he wasn’t stupid. So…_

“What on earth is your plan, Thrawn?”

“You will figure it out soon enough, Princess.” He nodded towards the Holocron. “Till then. Use your time wisely.”

**TBC**


	7. Tools

**Chapter 7 – Tools**

_Relax,_ he had said. _Try to become one with the Force. Concentrate on your inner-self. _

Well, in theory, that was all well and fine. But in reality, it _just_ wasn’t that easy! How should she relax, knowing that she was the price-captive of a madman?

With a deep sigh, Leia looked down at the greenish planet below her. She didn’t know where she was, but, guessing by the time they had spent in hyperdrive, they were probably somewhere in the ‘Colonies’ or the ‘Inner Rim’. The planet looked primitive and they had been here for, what she believed, at least 24 hours and she hadn’t got a clue what, in the name of the Force, the Grand Admiral could possibly be looking for in such a remote area of the galaxy. Leia shook her head, not that it mattered.

What did matter, however, was to get out of here. And if the Force could help her with that, she wouldn’t hesitate to do so. But for that, she had to master it first and so far, even the simplest steps seemed too large, too impossible, to take. If anything, Leia became more and more frustrated with herself and her lack of progress. Thankfully, she could turn the Holocron off whenever she felt like it. A true advantage compared to real, flesh and blood teachers. And if that function hadn’t existed, she probably would have smashed the Holocron against a wall by now.

Thrawn didn’t help either. Sometimes, probably after his shift, he came by and had surprisingly specific questions he wanted her to ask the Holocron during her next “lesson”. Yesterday, for example, he had instructed her to ask about cloned Siths. If such a process had ever been attempted and in how far the copies had differed from to original. Erciil hadn’t been able to provide her with an answer to that question, but it still bothered her. _A cloned Sith? _The first thing that had come into her mind had been that it must be Palpatine, who was now, facing the end of his life, entertaining the idea of immortality in form of clones. Someone like Palpatine wasn’t about to give up his power. But more than one Emperor? The thought was a terrible one. If that really was the case, she had to tell the Rebellion and they had to destroy those clones as fast as possible. But perhaps she was wrong. And, again, like this, she could do nothing. It was maddening. Like a hamster in a wheel, she found herself a prisoner of her position.

_Relax... Become one with the Force. Haha…._

Suddenly, she had an idea.

***

With a content smile on her face, Leia sat in the bathtub, under a large, white blanket of nicely-fragranted foam. _Perfect,_ Leia thought as she closed her eyes and rested her head on the edge of the tub. _Well almost._ She would have asked the computer to play some slow music to help her relax, but that too didn’t work, like so many other commands. Yes, she was completely cut off from everything. Except for the holocron. Like this one should think that she was bound to make progress, wasn’t she? Well played, Admiral… _Would he do the same? Have a bath to relax?_ The thought filled her mind with images that made her face flush, but not with embarrassment, but with anger. Anger upon herself. _How could she? NO!__…No, no negative thoughts now. Relax. Relax? Was this really part of Sith training? Leia! Focus. Don’t question. Relax. Become one with the Force...._

She sighed. _No, not working yet. A glass of champagne wouldn’t be too bad either now. But that would surely be too much to ask. _She smiled and briefly wondered whether the mentioning of champagne might do the trick and finally crack the stoic and maddeningly silent stormtrooper, who dutifully brought in her meals, which were the only thing that helped her to keep track of time a little, day after day. But so far, all her communication and friendship attempts had failed miserably. Leia frowned at the thought.

_No! The order of the day was: relax! So just do it! Why did her thoughts always trail off? Damn it, why was this so hard?_

Perhaps because her life had always been busy and full of appointments, meetings and things that absolutely could not be delayed. And even now that she had the time to relax, and her ‘master’, as the tiny man from the Holocron insisted to be called, wanted, no _needed_ her to relax, Leia found that she couldn't. Stress was a way of life to her, but, unfortunately, even Sith had to relax and meditate. At least that was what Master Erciil had told her. Though she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to believe him.

She inhaled deeply and tried to immerse in the wet element.

_Relax..._

After some time, Leia briefly opened her eyes and then focussed on the shampoo bottle which stood on the other side of the small bathroom. _Concentrate and feel the Force. The Force was life itself. It connects all of us and everything…._ Like the air between herself and the plastic bottle… _She had to feel it_. Leia’s breath slowed down, as she, very hesitantly, reached out and ‘touched’ the bottle. And then, without a warning, she felt it in her hand.

She opened her eyes, and first, as if hypnotized, studied the object in her hand. But once the disbelieve had vanished, her emotions ran free and kicking the water like a small child, she cheered: "Yes! I did it! I did it!" And then dived underwater, with only her hand sticking out of the foam, holding the shampoo bottle above like a valuable price she had just won in some great competition. Leia came back up again and shook her head in an unsuccessful attempt to get rid of all the foam and then activated the Holocron, which she had placed on a chair right in front of the bathtub.

"Master Erciil, I did it! I used the Force and the bottle - It just came to me! Look, I did it!”

"Well done, my young apprentice." The small figure said and then looked around. "Unfortunately, there isn't always a bathtub nearby should you want to use the Force."

She rolled her eyes. _Ungrateful, old bugger._

"But now you know the feeling. Be mindful of it and… practice."

***

And that she had done, for the next two days, Leia had done _nothing_ besides lifting objects and crushing them to the floor or against a wall. It felt surprisingly good - even more so when she imagined the objects to be Grand Admiral Thrawn. She had even tried to let the poor stormtrooper trip while he brought her the food, but he had only stumbled and then regained control of his body, suspiciously checking his surroundings. Leia knew she shouldn’t do this. Moreover, she shouldn't _enjoy _it. _But she had to practice somehow, right?_

***

Later that night or better what Leia had decided to be night, suddenly the door opened. She opened her eyes and then looked at the figure in the illuminated doorframe.

"You’ve got to be kidding me." She said, activated the light on her nightstand and sat up, her back resting against the headpiece, arms uninvitingly crossed in front of her chest.

“It is not that late.”

“Relative of yours?" Leia asked then when she saw a tiny, yellow, furry something in the Admiral's arms.

“It is nice to see you too, Princess.”

Wordlessly, he came over to her.

"Don't you _dare _putting that thing in my bed." Leia growled and backed away from the furry visitor.

"The last time I checked, this was still my ship."

He let the small animal down on her bedspread and said something in a language she didn't understand and once Leia looked at the animal again, the little furball didn't look scary at all, but scared.

"What is it? Is it dangerous?"

"They are called Ysalamiri." The Grand Admiral said calmly and kneeled down in front of the bed, stroking the shaking animal. "The grown-up males can be aggressive if they feel threatened, but this here is an eight-week-old female. She was separated from her mother only yesterday."

Again, he said something incomprehensible, obviously trying to soothe the animal.

Then he looked up at the Princess.

"There is no need for fear. This specimen has been thoroughly cleaned and checked for illnesses and parasites. It also does not bite - yet. You may touch it."

“How gracious of you.”

At first, Leia hesitated, but then touched the animal. Its fur felt surprisingly warm and soft underneath her touch.

“And what if it pees in my bed?”

This time his smile felt genuine.

“That, of course, could happen.”

_Strange._ It looked like it had four, black eyes. And even though it had fur, it looked more like a reptile than a mammal.

"Why did you bring it here?"

“To test a theory.” He said mysteriously and Leia could feel the tiny hair on her arms stand up.

“I’ve had more than enough of that."

“Nothing like last time.” He promised. “Just - use the Force.”

“Why?”

“Do it. I know you can.”

_Why should she? Just because he wanted her to? He was in no position to order her around and Leia wanted to rebel, just because she could, because out of habit! _

When he noticed her hesitation, he picked up the animal and went halfway to the exit before turning around. Then he nodded to her nightstand. On it stood a water bottle and a couple of glasses.

“Try to throw one of the glasses at me - if you need some motivation.”

“Oh, with _pleasure_, Admiral.”

Leia said sweetly and then focussed on the glass. _He had asked for it! And who was she to refuse a Grand Admiral?_ Leia smiled. The glass levitated, swooshed through the air and then, shortly before reaching its target, crashed down to the floor like gravity had suddenly remembered to start working again.

The alien raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Fascinating.”

“What the…?!”

_How could that be?!_

_He moved closer to her. _

_“_Again, please.”

Leia focussed on the glass. This time NOTHING happened and Leia couldn’t understand why. _She had done it dozens of times today!_

She tried again. And again.

“I can’t.”

_Had she only dreamed she could use the Force? Was she going insane?_

Thrawn stroked the Ysalamir.

“What a likeable, little creature you are.”

Leia watched the scene and felt her blood boiling. Without thinking she then reached for the glass and simply threw it at him. Just in time, the Grand Admiral took a step aside, avoiding her assault. He laughed.

“Cheating?”

“I am sure you are used to the concept, Grand Admiral.” She spat, leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her chest, sulking.

He chuckled again at her childish behaviour, while walking over to the wardrobe at the far end of the room, putting the Yasalmir on the ground. Then he walked over to the door.

“Again.”

“No.” _She had had enough of this!_

“One final time, please.”

“No.”

“Who knows? It might work this time.” He said temptingly.

The Princess exhaled audibly and this time the glass, finally, hit the door, missing the Grand Admiral by about 10 centimetres.

“Almost.” He commented dryly. The near-human returned to the animal lifted it to his eye-level and once more talked to it in this very strange and very alien language. The Imperial seemed pleased.

“I don’t understand,” Leia said.

“Ysalamiri repel the Force.” He explained while eyeing the animal. “This one only managed about three meters, but I am in possession of fully-grown versions as well. If the rumours are true, those should be able to create Force-free bubbles of up to ten meters.”

_Animals that repelled the Force? How was such a thing even possible?_

“Does that mean you are afraid of me?”

“Do not flatter yourself, Princess. Your Force abilities are far from frightening.”

“Yet.” Leia added and smiled coldly. With more energy than she thought she had, the Princess threw the blanket aside, got up and walked right towards the window. “My Force powers will grow and your little pet won’t save you then.”

“Really?” The near-human raised an eyebrow and came over, before putting the animal back into Leia’s arms.

“Kill it then.”

“What?”

_Had he lost his mind?!_

“She is your pet.”

“She is not my pet. She is a tool. A tool which you will have to overcome long before you can overcome me.”

His scarlet eyes met hers and unconsciously Leia held the animal tighter. He had probably killed its mother and now tried to bind it to him. But he felt nothing for it. A tool. Just like herself…_A tool…discarded once it had outlived its usefulness?_ Leia noticed the little creature shaking. No, she couldn’t hurt it. Actually, she felt inclined to protect it from the evil, blue monster opposite her.

“And?” He asked, challenging her a final time, before saying: “I thought as much.”

Silently, he took the animal back.

With a stern look on her face, Leia eyed the near-human. That round went to him._ But if he hadn’t gotten the Ysalamiri because of her, then why had he?_

“Does the Emperor know about the Ysalamiri?”

He smiled.

“See you tomorrow, Princess.”

With that, he left.

***

_Summoning objects with the Force and throwing them somewhere was undoubtedly a useful skill, _the Princess thought. Of course, having achieved her first success in this field, Leia tried to raise the bar and attempted to lift something much heavier than an empty shampoo bottle. But, unfortunately, after a few fruitless attempts, she had to admit failure.

Later, she asked her new teacher why it hadn’t worked. At first, he had only given her a mocking smile, and only after a while he had then answered:

“The size of an object does not matter. You are surrounded by the Force, and if you bend it to your will, you will be able to move mountains.”

She raised her eyebrows. _Mountains? It had to be a metaphor!_

“Lift this bed,” Erciil ordered.

Leia looked sceptical at the rather heavy piece of furniture.

„First of all, I have to remove the screws, which attach the bed to the floor,” she noticed.

“Do it then. But do it by using the Force.”

_Wonderful_. Pulling an object was one thing, but rotating it around its own axis at the same time was quite another. _No, thank you!_ That was still too difficult, at this point.

The Sith master looked expectantly at the Princess.

“Concentrate on your feelings,” he advised quietly. “You have to believe in your abilities. It's just a bed. And you? Who are you?”

That didn’t help at all. _Who was she? A Princess and a leader of the Rebellion? Vader's daughter? And that wasn’t something to be proud of!_

Maybe her teacher was right about one thing: Leia tried to erase this embarrassing fact from her consciousness, constantly thinking about not becoming like her biological father, and that did not bring her any closer to her goal. On the contrary: it distanced her from it.

After all, the skills alone, she had inherited from him, were not a bad thing. The Force was a tool that could be used for both - good and bad things. _So why should she give up this tool? It was a weapon, and she just had to learn how to use it – for the right thing._

She stretched out her hand towards the bed and closed her eyes. And then she heard:

“Turn your emotions into strength and the Force will set you free.”

_The Force... it would help her to escape from this prison!_

She remembered the metal chain with which Jabba had kept her prisoner before. She struggled as if she wanted to break the invisible chains of her memories.

“Anger is good,” her teacher added. “Use it.”

But it didn’t work. _Why? What was blocking her?_ In her imagination, she saw the blue face of the Grand Admiral. She pulled again, harder, with more anger. And then...

She opened her eyes as soon as she heard the screws, torn by the Force, hitting the ceiling, before falling down like durasteel raindrops.

“Very good, my young student”, Master Erciil praised. “There's so much anger in you. Especially towards the Chiss.”

The Princess suddenly came to her senses.

“Towards whom?” she asked.

“They call themselves the Chiss. The Sith Empire struck a deal with them a long time ago. The Chiss agreed to serve us in exchange for respecting their sovereignty. They paid tribute to our Emperor and thus avoided the fate of other, less deliberate, races. But among the Chiss were also traitors who wanted our annihilation. If this Admiral of yours would have been around back then, he might have been one of them.”

Leia smiled. She had found out to which race Thrawn belonged to - without asking for it!

The story Erciil had talked about had happened thousands of years ago, but the knowledge of such historical facts could be useful one day. The words of the former Sith Master showed that the Chiss and the Sith had once tried to conquer the galaxy together. This, in turn, explained, to some extent, why Thrawn got along with Palpatine so well. They probably both liked studying history and wanted ‘the good old days’ to come back again.

_But there had also been traitors among the Chiss_…

Well, whatever game the Grand Admiral played, his loyalty to the Emperor was certainly questionable. For example, the fact that Leia hadn’t been dragged before Palpatine's throne yet was speaking against Thrawn. He may serve his Emperor, but at the same time, he hid things from him - like an unhealthy interest in the Sith: their abilities and limitations of their power.

Palpatine wouldn't be happy if he heard that the commander of his fleet had a Sith Holocron in his possession. And he would probably be even more enraged if he were to find out about the two Jedi Holocrons. And on top of this, Thrawn had somehow managed to get hold of a lightsaber! The Force alone knew how many more Sith or Jedi artefacts he kept on this ship! Prohibited artefacts, which should have been confiscated and destroyed a long time ago.

_What did Thrawn need these items for? Was it possible that he had been preparing for finding a potential Force user like her? In order to turn him or her into his tool?_ Not very likely, but it was the only rational explanation that came to the Princess’ mind.

Undoubtedly, the Grand Admiral was playing with fire if he wanted to train a Sith or a Jedi under the Emperor's very nose. _And what next? A coup d'état? And then? Was he going to announce himself as the new Emperor?_

Leia considered it. _Actually, as a member of the Rebellion, shouldn't she use this opportunity to overthrow the hated order? She could pretend that she wanted to work for the Chiss, encourage him to act against the Sith and remove them from power. But... how could she know whether Thrawn, as a tyrant, wouldn't turn out worse than Palpatine? More ruthless and more difficult to defeat? _

Although it seemed unlikely that the Empire in the hands of anyone other than Palpatine - or Vader - could become more terrifying, the Princess knew better than to completely reject such a possibility. She shouldn't underestimate Thrawn or prematurely call the Sith ‘the greater evil’. Evil was evil. And to her, all of them were just that.

_If she had to fight Thrawn, what could she use against him? The Force? _No, the Chiss had already proven that he could stop her by using just one funny lizard. Ysalamir. Certainly, the Grand Admiral had a few more aces up his sleeve.

So far, she hadn’t noticed a weakness in him, except, perhaps, his curiosity. Thrawn might become careless if he was really keen on something. After all, he had placed himself in danger when he had come to Tatooine. He was the kind to person that did almost anything to reach his goal. And, like any perfectionist, he probably believed that he was the only one who could handle the task. That _only he_ could outsmart Jabba, Vader - the Emperor?... Yes, without a doubt, Thrawn had a very high opinion of himself. So, to defeat him, she had to let him believe in his infallibility.

She could only imagine how upset the Chiss must have been when he had realised he wasn't able to open the Holocron on his own. That he held a source of great and secret knowledge in his hands, unable to access it!

Now he probably listened to all of her conversations with Master Erciil. Although Leia had destroyed all the cameras she had found in her bed- and bathroom, she was certain that there were still some cleverly hidden bugs in her rooms left. She had looked carefully at all the furniture - and even under and in the flowerpots! But she hadn’t found any more devices. Still, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that Thrawn heard every word leaving her mouth.

Well, when she had been on the Death Star, it had been similar: she had been watched and listen to all the time. Only her thoughts had been private, although Vader had tried to take away even that during interrogations.

***

“Master, can the Sith... or the Jedi... Can Force users, in general, communicate with each other telepathically?”

Erciil chuckled.

“I'm a projection, my young student. I cannot read your thoughts, nor can you read mine.” He reminded her. “But if I stood before you in flesh, I could share my thoughts with you, and perhaps even look into your mind. And you could stop me from doing that by building a protective barrier around your mind.”

Leia frowned.

“Could I have done it unconsciously? Erect such a barrier? When Vader searched my mind for the location of the secret Rebel base?”

“It is possible,” he confirmed her guesses.

“So, it's not that hard, then. To block someone out?”

“The Force is strong in you. And it is your ally. It protects you.” Erciil said. “But any mind can be broken, any barrier can be crossed, although there are always risks involved.”<strike></strike>

“I erected a barrier. I’m sure. I did not let him in.”<strike></strike>

Erciil watched her for a moment.

„Are you sure? Blood has special power. It is used in many Sith rituals. You can also seal a bond with it. You have the same blood running through your veins.”

Not for the first time Leia wished she had never told Erciil about Vader. Now he kept bringing up her Sith lineage. But without this knowledge and a brief political upgrade, lessons might have been difficult. And Thrawn had insisted. 

“You _are_ connected and only death can break this connection,” Ercill concluded as he saw where her thoughts were heading.

“Does that mean he can sense me? That he knows that I am here, on this ship?” The Princess asked alarmed. “But why... why, when he talked to me on the Death Star... Could he read my mind through the blood bond?! That makes no sense. And shouldn’t he know that I’m his daughter then?! He said nothing!”

“I don’t know. But sometimes our convictions are stronger than the truth.” Erciil sighed. “If you believe in a lie, you cannot see the truth. Even if it stares you in the face.”

So Vader didn't know... he didn't know he had a daughter! His subconscious had, for whatever reason, chosen not to see. For him, she was only what he wanted to see: a rebel, a traitor. And he could not sense her now. Because he didn’t know what to look for...

Not much of a consolation, the Princess thought, but at least Vader did not consciously want the death of his child.

If he didn't know about her, she should keep it that way for as long as possible. And she had to stop thinking about him! And never, ever try to reach for him… because chances were, he would hear her.

She rubbed her forehead with her hand.

“What about other people? Can I hear them too? From afar? People I don't share blood with?”

„You heard another person in your mind? Senses its Force presence?”

"Yes.”

"Do you have an emotional bond with this person?”

"Yes.”

"Perhaps one of you has initiated a mind-binding ritual.”

Leia laughed, embarrassed.

"I kissed Luke, yes. But that’s all. I don't think it's possible to create such a special bond by just one... or two kisses. Right?”

Master Erciil looked at her like she was a small child who had behaved very irresponsibly.

_Maybe this was why the Jedi hadn’t been allowed to be with anyone. To avoid this kind of situation?_

Well, although the Princess wasn't sure how she felt about Luke - it was easy for her to tell how she felt about Han. Still, this unusual bond gave her hope that she and the young Jedi would meet again and that, in the end, they would always find each other, against all odds.

**TBC**


	8. Explanations

**Chapter 8 – Explanations**

AFTER DAYS OF SOLIDARY TRAINING

“What is this?” The Princess asked, raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked down at the set table. It was covered with treats of every sort and the tableware was made of silver and crystal.

“A peace offering.” The Grand Admiral, who sat on the far end of the table, said. “Please, sit down.”

Her lips were pursed, but her eyes sparkled when she did as he said.

“And to what do I owe this peace offering?”

“Lack of time, for the most part.” The Chiss explained.

A droid rolled over and served them some wine.

“The truth is, I need your help.”

“If that is the case, you have a strange way of asking for it, Grand Admiral: bringing me here like this, locking me up with a Sith Holocron.”

His smile was crooked as he sat in his chair, legs crossed, smiling in his wine.

“Yes. You are right, of course, but I had no other choice and, in the long run, one might even say I had yours, and everyone’s, best intentions at heart.”

Leia snorted. What he was claiming was preposterous at best.

“My best intentions?” She asked, disbelieve written all over her face.

He handed her some fish.

“You should try this. It is really good and has to be eaten as long as it is warm.”

Leia put some of it on her plate, while she continued to listen.

“Are you familiar with the Unknown Regions, Princess?”

Leia shook her head. “Not much, I’m afraid.”

“Most people are not.” He took a sip of wine. “Anyway. A long time ago in the far outskirts of the Unknown Regions, the species of the Grysks evolved and they quickly became a spacefaring civilisation. But soon after first contact with other intelligent lifeforms, their homeworld, Grysa, a lush, green world, became subjected to a great epidemic, leaving their world a barren wasteland of death. Thus, the Grysks build a vast fleet of starships to escape their dying world. On their pilgrimage through space, they discovered other civilisations and what started as a desperate attempt of survival soon became a way of life: The systematic conquering and plundering of worlds and the enslavement of people. Over the centuries their military grew and so far, nothing could stop them. And now they are heading for Csilla, my homeworld.” There was a brief pause. “And once they are done with the Ascendancy, they undoubtedly head for the Galactic Empire and then your little Rebellion will look like child’s fuss in comparison.”

He pushed a couple of datapads over the table in her direction.

“This data will help you to understand the seriousness of the situation.”

Leia skimmed through them.

“These numbers are frightening. Have your people already ask for Imperial assistance?”

“No. And they won’t.”

“But…why?”

“Because the Chiss are….a peculiar people.”

Leia laughed.

“If you are anything to judge by, I dare say they are.”

He sighed heavily.

“The Chiss …. lack flexibility. It is hard to explain to someone who has not lived in their society, but I will give you an example. Basic has a phonetic alphabet, a system for transcribing the precise sounds of speech into writing. Twenty-four letters, which lay the foundation of communication. Cheunh, the language of my people, on the other hand, is logosyllabic. Each character represents a syllable or a word on its own, which makes a lot of things more complicated than necessary. For one, it is harder for common people to study, which in turn stabilizes the position of the ruling families. But more than that, it hinders our growth as a species. How to program a computer? Answer: It takes a lot longer and it is more prone to mistakes. My species never managed to create droids. Of course, we could change our language, but that would be against ‘_tradition_’.” He almost spat out the last word. “Truth is, we are stuck.” He shook his head. “Such a thing would never happen to Humanity. You integrate what _works_, what is _better_ and it does not matter from what field it comes: Food, language, Math, Science. You adjust, and it does not make you any less Human, but more fit to live in this galaxy.” He played with his fork. “_Tradition_ is to be upheld, even if it means death.” There was another long pause. “When I was a young Commander in the Chiss Fleet I proposed a _preemptive_ strike against an enemy of ours. I was refused. And even later, after they had flattened one of our largest colonies, my plan was frowned upon.” He took another sip of wine. “And once I saw the Grysks I knew my people would not survive without a strong, _military_ ally.”

“So you jumped ship?”

“In a matter of speaking.”

“Are you telling me you joined the Empire because you want to protect your people? From the Grysks? And you think the Emperor will let you do that? Use his fleet to fight the enemies of the Chiss?”

“It was my one condition for joining the Empire. And the sixth is my fleet.” He said grimly. “The Grysks have to be stopped and I will not idly sit by and watch my people die.”

“Alright. I can understand that, but I don’t understand why you are showing me all of this. What have I got to do with it?”

“As I said, I need your help. Your help to defeat them.”

Leia looked up, her eyes large with surprise.

“My Force abilities aren’t strong enough for that! I can barely lift a bed with the Force.”

“Your estimation of the situation is correct, though you have made considerable progress. However, there is a plan B.”

Plan B. Somehow, she didn’t like the sound of that.

“Does it include leaving my quarters?” Leia asked hopefully.

The Chiss smiled.

“As a matter of fact, it does. And not only your quarters, you would have to leave this ship and start studying the ways of the Force under Jedi Master C'baoth.”

“Do you think that would be quicker?”

“No. It is his price for helping me.”

Leia just stared at the Imperial for a second. _Was this a joke?_

“There is still a Jedi Master out there and you didn’t tell Palpatine? And he has a price tag for offering assistance? What kind of Jedi is he?”

The Chiss cautiously ate his fish dish.

“Palpatine knows about C'baoth. In fact, he is one of the clones he created to protect his property. But, like most clones, C'baoth was created with growth accelerators, which left him a bit….eccentric, or `mentally instable´ as Captain Pellaeon likes to put it. I would very much prefer to work with you, but there is no time as the Grysks are moving fast and C'baoth is obsessed with having a student.”

“Just a second. You want to give me to a mentally instable, cloned Jedi Master, so that he will help you to defend the Grysks?! Have you lost your mind? I mean how mental is this guy?”

“His mood-swings and delusions of grandeur are …substantial, but he can be reasoned with.”

“I don’t like it.”

“And I do not care. We are already on our way to Wayland.”

“Blast you!” Leia hissed.

“Oh no, your Highness.” He smiled. “I will not ‘give’ you to C'baoth. That would be a truly reckless waste of potential.” He took a slow sip of wine and studied her over the glass’ rim. “I only want you to _pretend_ to be his faithful student.”

Leia shook her head; understanding where this was going.

“But in reality, you want me to spy on him.”

“Watch over him.” The Chiss suggested instead. “For obvious reasons, I cannot put the future of my people in his hands.”

“Why, in the name of the Force, should I help you? After everything you did to me?”

“Because you have no choice because I might contact your father if you do not cooperate, because it is better than your current situation, because you will do something good for millions of beings. Pick one.”

“Bastard.”

A confrontation with Vader was the last thing she wanted.

“I will leave one of the Noghri with you at all time. For protection. And once the situation has been dealt with, I will let you go and never mention your parentage again. I promise.”

_Protection? Observation was more like it._ Leia stared at her wine glass. _And promises of an Imperial Grand Admiral usually didn’t mean a lot._

“What do you want me to do?”

“Not much. First of all, practice with the Holocron. Especially on how to guard your mind and read other people’s minds. C'baoth cannot know that you are spying on him and you have to learn how to read him.”

“But he’s a Jedi _Master_.”

“A cloned Jedi Master with a Midi-chlorian count lesser than yours.”

“_You sure know how to_ show a girl a good time.” Leia mumbled sourly. Then she sighed. _What choice did she have?_

“Alright.”

“Good.” There was a short pause. “And perhaps at this stage of your training, you should also master the art of wielding a lightsaber”, Thrawn suggested. “Then the prospect of a duel with C'baoth will no longer bother you.”

He was probably right, but there was a serious problem about her physical training that the Grand Admiral seemed to forget: Leia was trapped in her quarters, which were not suitable for this type of exercise, and she lacked a partner with whom she could cross blades with. Master Erciil couldn't help her with that.

Another duel with the battle droids was out of the question, even if, by some miracle, the imperial commander had managed to fix them after what the Princess had done to them during the Chiss’ "first test". It was his fault that Leia held a grudge against those droids. Actually, everything was his fault.

She doubted that Thrawn would assign one of his crew members to her as a sparring partner. No Force blind person could match her in such a duel – she, on the other hand, was supposed to practice her Force powers! So, all of this was pointless, right? No human would stand a chance in a fight like this. So there was only one potential opponent left: Rukh. But what could she learn from fighting a Noghri, who moved like a shadow and liked to attack from behind? Leia could close her eyes and try to sense him with the Force, but would she be quick enough to parry a coming blow or to initiate a counterattack? Moreover, Rukh was shorter than she was and he didn’t move like a Human, and - which was extremely important in this case - he did not know how to fight with a sword or any weapon typical for a Jedi knight. He had no knowledge of fencing; he didn’t need this kind of skill to win a duel. Leia looked at Thrawn, who probably saw her dilemma and then, she heard something that took her completely by surprise:

“_I_ will train with you.”

_Perhaps the Grand Admiral had a death wish?_

“You're going to cheat,” Leia said instead.

_And how could he not? There was no way he would win playing by the rules._

“Depends on what you mean by _cheating_”, Thrawn replied. “For one, I won't give you a lightsaber with which you could kill or seriously hurt me. Call it `caution´ or `limited trust´. We will use training swords.”

The Princess measured him with her eyes.

“Can you wield a sword?” She asked him. “Is this one of your hobbies?”

The Chiss smiled mysteriously.

“You can't always rely on blasters, Princess. The war forces us to use all possible means.”

But she sensed that he didn't tell her the whole truth.

So much for dinner…

***

The Princess was reluctant to visit the training room with the terrifying droids for a second time. Now, however, the room was empty, as if it had been purposely cleaned of all the things she could use to gain an advantage over her opponent. _Perhaps it was Thrawn who was afraid that Leia would try to play dirty?_

She looked around with consternation. _The Ysalamir wasn't there either, so maybe...? No, the Grand Admiral certainly did not plan to play fair. So, what was his plan this time?_

He gave her a wooden stick, just like the one he kept for himself.

“Stance.” He admonished her. “A hand-to-hand combat with close-combat weapons belongs to the traditions of Alderaanian nobility, does it not? So, you must have been taught the basics of fencing.”

Leia smiled coldly.

“I've been taught many things, Admiral. Also, not to fight with a wooden stick against an opponent of your stature.”

The corners of his blue lips rose slightly.

“And _I_ should know better than to poke a Sith with a stick, and yet I here I am. Get ready.”

Leia decided on a defensive position, holding the long stick at the height of her hips. Her enemy – or should she say _her sparring partner_? – looked down at her, squinting his red, bright eyes.

He lifted his training sword and led a quick strike, which she barely managed to block. Fortunately, she didn't let go of her weapon. When the next blow came, the Princess preferred to dodge. Then she jumped back and increased the distance between herself and her opponent.

“You cannot rely on your physical strength," Thrawn commented, "so you need to master the techniques that suit your natural predispositions. You are agile and quick. Take advantage of the power you possess. You can react much faster. Try to predict my movements.”

But he didn't make it easy for her. He purposefully used some unknown fighting techniques and managed to confuse her several times, changing the trajectory of the impact at the last moment. As a result, Leia was so focused on pairing his blows that she didn't have time for anything else.

She had to concentrate. She closed her eyes. And got hit on the shoulder.

“Stay awake, Princess.”

She felt her anger growing. _Maybe instead of defending herself, she should have attacked?_

She looked at Thrawn with hate and raised her stick. She thought about how much she wanted to hurt him. Her emotions were her weapon, just as much as her sword.

She attacked. The Grand Admiral easily parried the first, second and the third blow. At the fourth, he got hurt. He reduced the distance and grabbed her by the wrist before she could make another series of attacks.

“You do not only lack technique, but also finesse,” he criticized her. “Fighting like this, you will soon get tired. Unless, by pure chance, you can cut a limb off your opponent.”

“Or are you perhaps the one you can't predict the movements of his opponent?”

She closed her eyes again. She focused and then used the Force to push him away. She felt the wind on her face and in her hair; the wind that had become her ally and helped her to free herself from the embrace of the Grand Admiral.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Thrawn was now a few metres away from her, and his current defensive position left much to be desired. Or, judging from her perspective, his far from ideal stance was everything Leia, as his opponent, could have wished for.

She threw herself into an attack. Thrawn gracefully dodged her blow and... did something unexpected. He threw his sword from his right into his left hand and struck from below, strong enough to cut the Princess in half and knock her off her feet.

Leia caught her breath and when she looked up, she saw him leaning over her, extending his right hand.

“No.”

Then she sat up, but remained in a sitting position on the floor, throwing angry glares at him.

“Next time will be better,” the Chiss said, almost comforting.

“If I had had a lightsaber...”

“I would have had one too, and I would have cut off both of your legs with it.”

“So you have a second lightsaber?”

He didn't answer.

She loudly sighed.

“Do you really think I will do better the next time around?”

“Only if you can learn from your mistakes.”

***

A wise man once said: “Theory without practice is empty and practice without theory is blind.” Following that line of thought, Leia had started with the theory of fencing. So next time she entered a fight with Thrawn, she would be more prepared.

Yes, she already knew a little bit about fencing, but it had been obvious that the Grand Admiral had had a clear advantage over her. Even without the Force. And her training had been basic, rudimentary, and a long time ago. And she hadn’t cared for it. _After all, who, at this time of age, needed fencing?_ It was a custom, a tradition, nothing more. _What could a normal person possibly do with this skill in reality? At a burglary, for instance, you couldn’t possibly say. `Wait a second and let me get my sword.´ _So, Leia hadn’t cared much about those lessons. A fact she regretted now. With a sigh she looked down at her datapad.

The Grand Admiral had granted her access to the Chimaera’s fencing data and Master Erciil knew quite a lot about the topic too. Looking back, it was easy to see why she hadn’t stood a chance. Her posture, her grip, almost everything had been far from perfect. By now she had read a book about the topic and had watched several Holo clips too. Still, it was hard to know how much of it she could actually apply in a real fight, when things happened fast. Very fast.

A simple command had turned the view panels into mirrors and Leia checked her stance for the third time.

“Is this it, Master Erciil?”

“Yes. That looks right. But your grip is still wrong. Keep your thumb in the 12 o'clock position to create a straight line with your arm. All other positions will send the blade inward or outward and your thrusts swill be less precise. If you get used to holding the blade inadequately, it’s hard to unlearn it.”

Leia adjusted her grip.

“Better.”

Then the Princess advanced and pushed the stick forward, simulating an attack.

"All of this leads nowhere as long as you don't exercise your legs. That should be your first priority. Without strong legs, you will never make it. You have nice legs, legs like a lady, not like a fighter. And fencing burns about 390 calories an hour - you won't build up muscles if you keep eating like a bird."

Leia jumped forward once more and Erciil shook his head.

“Stop this nonsense and work on your thighs again: 'Dumb-bell squats'. Twenty to start with."

Leia groaned, threw the stick on the bed and then walked over to the corner with the weights. Picking up the dumbbells, she then slowly lowered her torso by bending the knees and inhaled audibly through her nose. _She wasn’t used to this at all!_ After her fight with Thrawn her legs had hurt like hell, but this was torture. She wouldn’t be able to walk probably if Erciil kept this up.

“Maintain a straight posture, or your back will suffer.“

Erciil kept on lecturing her.

“Yes, master.” Leia pressed out, between squats.

“Deeper.”

“Yes, master.”

"And next time you fight the Chiss, don't turn your torso when he attacks. Beginners tend to do that, but instead of reducing the target area, they lose balance or give assess to their arms and the back. It never works. As of now, keep it clean and simple: concentrate on your stance and carefully calculate your maximal lunging distance. Then attack with the arm first, NOT the body."

"Yes, master."

"And be mindful of his posture. The dropping of the shoulder indicates he's going low."

"Yes, master."

It would be a long day…

***

During the next couple of days, it had been fencing training in the morning and mind control in the afternoon. Erciil was a slave driver, but Leia started to have fun. Well, _fun_ wasn’t the right word, but she was interested in how far she could go. How powerful she could become. And she was truly looking forward to “show” her progress to Thrawn. Leia smiled at the thought. But for that he had to show up, which he hadn’t done lately!

Well, perhaps this was a good opportunity to test one of her newer “tricks”. 

Leia closed her eyes and tried to systematically blank out everything, except for the life-signature she recognized as the Chiss’ in the Force. 

_Come to me._

Leia repeated her little message over and over again, casting emotions of importance and urgency along a very thin and fragile link, not knowing whether she would be successful.

_I want a revenge._

It wasn’t necessarily fair to practice with an unknowing and quite probably unwilling partner, but she hadn’t asked to be ‘rescued’ and ‘imprisoned’ either! And the Grand Admiral had told her to practice, but practicing mind-talk or fencing with a Holocron projection was, unfortunately, not possible.

Ercill had taught her how to send a message over the Force and it had sounded easy enough: Relax, become one with the Force, concentrate on the recipient, find him in the Force, establish a link and ‘talk’.

Leia sighed.

_No. She had to concentrate more than that._

She sighed, blanked out her mind again and let herself fall deeper and deeper into the net of living beings that was the Force and then she concentrated. His presence grew, eclipsing everything else.

_Come here. Or are you too scared? _

_Had it worked? _She could not be certain that he was aware of her metal presence. So far, she couldn’t feel any change. _And what if he was sleeping?_ _Would that be a problem? Or would it be easier to establish contact then? _Probably a good question for her next session with Erciil.

_Thrawn, feel my presence._ She called out. _Hear me; come to me._

She reached out with her mind again. Deeper. Again, she searched for his life presence in the Force.

_Why didn’t it work? _

There he was. His consciousness. His spark of life.

_Why? Perhaps…_ Leia tried a different approach and then noticed something strange. _Was there actually a part of him that was seeking contact? How was that possible?_ There was this tiny, glowing, blue ball inside of him that was… Leia shook her head as she, very carefully, touched it.

_What the….?! Was the Chiss…. Force sensitive?!_

The little ball struggled to establish contact, it seemed to _stretch_ to touch her.

The young woman summoned all of her mental strength and held on to this tiny, blue, ball - sending her message one final time.

_Feel me; hear me; come to me._

This time she felt a stir on the other side.

_***_

“I see you made progress.”

“So you noticed?” Leia said and smiled sweetly, while she was walking towards his ‘command chair’.

“It is hard not to notice a headache that threats to crack your skull wide open.” Ice was rattling in his glass, which was filled with what looked like whiskey.

“Accusations without any proof or fact.” The Princess said emotionless.

“I have been subjected to this kind of pain before.” The Chiss pointed to his head. “The resemblance is uncanny, so _please_, do not deny it.”

“Why should I be honest with you, if you aren’t with me?”

“Please elaborate.” He put the cold glass to his right temple.

“Your Force sensitivity.”

Thrawn sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“If you can call it that.”

He took a huge gulp of his self-medication.

“But where are my manners? Do you want something to drink?”

Leia shook her head.

No. She didn’t want anything to drink. _Had he really just confirmed her suspicion? Who would have thought… Things looked totally different now. _

“You did not collect Holocrons and lightsabers because you hoped that one day you would find someone like me. You had hoped to use them _yourself._”

“Hope is a Human emotion.” The Chiss said coldly.

“And you learned how to fence because it’s such a common way to fight these days?” Leia asked mockingly.

“I saw a possibility, but it was too late. I lost my abilities a long time ago.”

“You lost them? How can you lose the Force?”

The Chiss studied the person opposite him, as if evaluating how far she could be trusted.

“I believe the reason to be a biological one.” There was a longer pause. “We call it ‘Second Sight’. Some Chiss are born with it, but it usually vanishes with puberty. I was no exception.”

The explanation seemed typical for him. _Short_ and to the point, detached. He never gave away more than he had to.

A moment passed in silence. “Seeing that the ‘Second Sight’ was a live-long gift for most species came as a surprise.”

Leia smiled.

“I bet it did.”

He had gotten up from his chair and suddenly, he was very close, looking down at her.

“But you must know, I am sure, that there is no ability to speak of left.”

_Was he… afraid?_

_“_I wouldn’t be so sure of that…_” _

“I am.” There was a threat in his voice and a finality only leaders carried in their voice. Leia knew it well and she liked it. “Otherwise, I would not be in need of C'baoth - or you.”

The Princess smiled.

“Your words sound rehearsed, Grand Admiral. You knew I had found out and you thought about this conversation. About all its possible twists and turns.” Leia felt an aching in her neck from looking up, making her suddenly aware of how close they were standing. But she would not back down now. She knew men like Thrawn. They smelled weakness, just as she could smell his drink now. Whiskey, indeed.

“When I touched your ….” Leia stopped briefly, searching for the right word. “…Force-presence. It reacted…It reached out to me. Weak, I agree, but I felt it.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“But it did. Like amber in need of air.”

“Are you tempting me?”

_Was she? Wasn’t this stupid? _

“I’m learning from a Sith. So yes, I guess I am.” Leia smirked. “I’m in need of a partner.” Her eyes unintentionally fell on his lips.

_What?! _

Almost automatically Leia took a step backward and turned around, walking towards one of the large viewports.

“Learning how to fool C'baoth and to do so fast, isn’t easy, but your mind reacts to mine, which could work in our favor.”

Then she turned around again. Thrawn hadn’t moved and watched her closely.

“And with enough training, your abilities might return as well.”

_There. _She had said it. _It had been nothing more than a hunch. A thought. A feeling. A nano-second of what she had picked up from their mental connection. He wanted it back._

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“Why should I wish for such a thing?”

“Isn’t that obvious? For a man in your position, those powers would be very useful. Just as they are for the Emperor.”

“It is unwise to compare oneself with the Emperor.” He took another sip of Whiskey. “But I agree with the first part of your evaluation. Even if there is another risk, opening my mind to a leader of the Rebel Alliance.”

“A risk we both share.” Leia offered diplomatically.

“Please, Princess. We both know the playing field is not evenly set.” This time he didn’t ask before filling a second glass. “Still, in every battle there is an element of risk involved.”

Leia smiled and didn’t really know why.

“So, we try?”

“We try.” The Chiss agreed.

With that their glasses met.

**TBC**


	9. On Way to Wayland

**Chapter 9 – On Way to Wayland **

They sat on simple, grey yoga-mats in a darkened room, opposite of each other in a cross-legged position. Both of them wearing standard, black Imperial training-outfits. On the right and left of them stood a solidary candle.

“Last chance to run,” Leia said and smiled.

“Once my mind is made up there is usually no changing it.” The Chiss said calmly und somehow his confidence unnerved the Princess. Shouldn’t _he_ be the nervous one?

“Very well.”

With a quick flick of her hand, Leia activated the Holocron and within its red light, Master Erciil once more appeared.

“I see you are already in position.” The old man said and chuckled lightly. “Very good. This will be most educational.” He chuckled again, which did not help to calm Leia down. “Well, well, now put your arms together, as I told you.”

Master Erciil had given her exact instructions and Leia knew them by heart now. Plus, she had revised them with the Grand Admiral only minutes before. Still, she was nervous. _What if things went wrong? _

Leia unconsciously held her breath when her flesh met that of the Chiss…..There they sat, both with their arms raised next to their heads, palm to palm, forearm to forearm and as soon as they touched, something between them came _alive_.

Startled, the young Princess took a deep breath and fought the urge to draw back. 

_What was happening here? Was this supposed to happen?_

“Ah…very good, very good my young student. Don’t fight it. Close your eyes, concentrate and reach out.”

Slowly, very slowly, Leia’s mind touched the one of the Chiss. He winced and automatically resisted her mental touch. But then he changed strategy and attacked, reaching out in turn, which Leia had not thought possible. Now, she was the one struggling to keep her thoughts and feelings buried. She could feel his alien mind _touching_ the outer fringes of her thoughts. Master Erciil hadn’t told her the truth. This was a two-way path and Thrawn was learning fast.

Leia became angry.

“Yes, my young student. Now you understand.” He smiled. “And remember: _Peace is a lie. There is only passion_.”

They lowered their arms and rested them on their legs now. Arms still wrapped together, differently now though, fingertips to elbow. The Chiss’ skin seemed hotter than hers as if he were running a fever, but perhaps that was only her imagination. For a brief moment, they looked into each other’s eyes.

His eyes were melting lava, but there was no passion. Only caution and, perhaps, calculation. But there was something else too, no anger, no passion, but determination and sheer inhuman will-power. She felt him again, probing her mind - it became harder to resist his touch.

_Perhaps I should stop?_ Leia’s mind was on fever. _Pull my hands away and stand up. What am I doing here? This is going too fast! _

Her heart hammered so hard in her chest she was sure she was shaking. Then the Princess reached out again. Her mind against his. He was determent but lacked passion.

_Through Passion, I gain Strength._

This time Leia’s touch was not a shy poke, now it was a storm.

_Through Strength, I gain Power._

She crashed against his barricades and went deeper. He resisted. There was pain somewhere. She didn’t care.

_Through Power, I gain Victory._

His walls caved in. Not much, but enough to let the seeking tendrils of her mind enter his thoughts. He shook his head. He resisted. The crack in the wall became smaller, but it was too late.

_Through Victory, my chains are broken._

Leia had never entered another person’s mind, so she had no way to compare this situation, but he felt….._alien. _

“Good, my young apprentice. Now concentrate on your task.”

Leia felt the Admiral’s instinctive need to pull back, away – he was fighting and he did well. His mind was like a skyscraper, filled with rooms in gleaming white, clean, neat and well ordered. Slowly, she entered the first ‘room’ and again the alienness of it almost took her breath away. His way of thinking was efficient and precise. Logical, but there was constant reasoning and re-reasoning which confused her. But what struck her the most was how guarded the contents of his thoughts were and how muffled the accompanying emotions were. Perhaps `feelings´ was a better word. `Emotions´ ran deeper. Surely, no Human mind could work like this.

Leia hopelessly looked around.

_What now?_ _White, there was only white._ She almost panicked; her pulse rose. _How far should she go? Should she dare walking throw another door? And where should she go from there? What if she got lost? _

Again, she felt his touch against hers. Leia gasped. She hadn’t been careful. She had lost focus. The door closed and she was thrown out of the room. Now he was attacking her. A crack. She was weak.

_No! He had no emotion, no passion! The Dark Side was her ally!_

She willed him out.

_The Force shall set you free._

Leia smiled, but the smile faded quickly.

_What had he seen?_ This little game was a wicked travesty of mental intimacy.

“No.” she said finally and pulled her hands away.

Erciil laughed.

“You were scared, my young apprentice.”

“I wasn’t _scared_.” Leia hissed.

“Yes, you were and if you fear, your existence in the Order is not needed, for the battle is already lost.”

Frustrated Leia got up and marched to the viewport, hands clenched to a fist.

“You said you had lost all that is dear to you. I see that is not the case. You are afraid of losing. Afraid he might see.”

“You did not tell me I would be vulnerable during the session.” She spat over her shoulder.

“You wouldn’t have been if you had managed to uphold your shields while reaching out to read another person.” He smiled. “Of course, most beginners cannot.”

Then his eyes met Thrawn’s.

“You have strong mental shields. I take it this wasn’t your first time?”

“It was not. My superiors used the Force on me on several occasions.”

“Without avail?”

“No to my knowledge.”

“Fascinating.” He studied the Chiss once more, before refocussing on Leia.

“Any real achievement in life is gained through struggle. If I had made it easy for you, I would not have deemed you a worthy candidate.”

“Great.”

***

“How did you manage that?” Leia asked on the way back.

“You forgot that I have more than one Holocron.”

“And the Jedi Holocrons opened to you?”

“One did.”

“Master Windu?” She wouldn’t be too surprised by that. Thrawn had the right mind-set, but somehow it hadn’t felt like the two of them had known each other.

“No.”

So, he had kept the third one, the one that he could benefit from to himself. _Why wasn’t she surprised?_

“And is he any good?”

“_Her_ lessons were…. rudimentary at best.” He smiled. “Which has more to do with the student than the master, I am sure.”

Leia bit her lower lip and studied the Chiss.

A _female _instructor. She wondered how he felt about that. Usually, the Empire was pretty much a male domain. Women in power did exist but were an exception. 

“I bet that hurt the ego.”

“Because she is a woman?” The Chiss raised an eyebrow and then sighed. “A common misconception.”

“Really? And how come I rarely see any women in those uniforms?” She pointed at one of the officers passing them.

Thrawn shook his head as they entered a turbolift and then chose the level of her quarters. Back to the prison then…

“Just because there are not many women in the military does not mean that they are not welcome. The Navy just is not a preferred choice for many women. Simple as that. But, that being said, there _are_ some female officers in my staff right now and they are just as capable as their male counterparts. And I have some favorable memories of serving under women too. In uniform and out of it.”

Leia gaped at the Chiss. _Had he really just said that?! _

“Come again?” She asked, trying not to sound too startled.

The numbers on the level display flashed by - 12,13,14,…

“Ah. We have arrived, Princess.”

Tamping down a smile, he gestured for her to leave the turbolift. He enjoyed playing with her.

“Beauty before wisdom.” He said gallantly and Leia wished she could scratch his red eyes out.

“Gladly, as there obviously isn’t enough space in this turbolift for me and your ego.”

He laughed as she stepped out.

“Commander Miller, please escort the Princess to her quarters.”

He nodded towards Leia.

“See you tomorrow morning.”

She did not reply.

***

Back in her quarters, Leia said down on her bed and tried to digest what had happened. Well, she could understand why the Chiss had tried to protect himself by erecting a wall to guard his mind and, later on, a whole labyrinth in which an intruder could get lost in, wandering between mental images that were incomprehensible to him, so that he would never reach the intended place.

Leia remembered what she had been taught once: how to make it through an interrogation, during which a thought probe or a truth serum was used. It was necessary to concentrate on other issues, trivial things, and not to let the enemy anywhere close to the guarded secrets. And Thrawn was doing something quite similar to that: conquering up strange, empty rooms in his head, confusing her, putting new obstacles in her way, setting traps.

When she re-examined their confrontation, she thought that perhaps the Chiss had been deliberately encouraging her and when she had become overconfident and careless - he had attacked. _What had he seen through that tiny open door in her mind? She honestly hoped it was nothing he could use against the Rebels... _After all, they were still enemies, they fought on opposite sides, although... they had common goals now. Temporary common goals, that was. Still, they both wanted to explore the secrets of the Force, to learn how to use it, and finally, to turn it into a weapon to fight evil. First of all, that meant the Grysks. Later on...well, that remained to be seen. A troubling thought. One which she chose to neglect at the moment.

And today, while practicing, the Princess had sensed his desire to be able to use the Force once more. The Grand Admiral had ridiculed her when she mentioned ‘hope’, but in the essence, that was what it had been. _How else could you describe his longing for the abilities long lost to him and his determination to regain them again? And his firm belief that she, Leia Organa, could help him to do just that? _

She had noticed the glow in his eyes when he had looked at her, once or twice, as if she were some new Star Destroyer model. His secret weapon. Bearing that in mind, she had been all the more surprised, when he had told her that he planned to "hand her over" to Master C'baoth, or - as he would put it - to make her his spy on Wayland. Suddenly, a terrible thought entered her mind. _What if the Grand Admiral hadn't told her the whole truth? What if the original plan had been, the core one, the simpler one? Bringing her to C'baoth to get his help? And only later on, after getting to know her, he had altered this plan, coming to the conclusion that it was either too dangerous or less advantageous to give her away like that?_ She wouldn't put it past him... Men like Thrawn were cold and stopped at nothing to get what they wanted. She would do well to remember who he was: An Imperial Grand Admiral. Leia sighed. And during their practise session she had understood one more thing: That she was an ideal ‘research object’ for Thrawn. The Chiss needed his own little ‘Sith,’ with whom he could test his crazy theories and train his own abilities, without too much danger. The main goal was probably to be able to withstand Force users in general, but first and foremost, of course, the Emperor and Vader.

Besides, as she had learned, the Grand Admiral watched her closely, and probably tried to learn from her mistakes. And whenever she had learned something new, it gave him ‘hope’ - or whatever he would call it - that he, too, would find a way to learn it himself. But at the core of all things, he _needed_ her. He couldn't train alone, and she was a perfect training partner for him: A learner of her own, not too strong yet to represent a real threat. And she could communicate with the Holocrons for him. And she was sane. At least she hoped so. She was his best option to get what he wanted. Maybe his only one. Perhaps it had been fate. Thus, he probably wouldn’t give her away C'baoth without a fight. And that thought, in turn, gave her hope.

And she needed hope. Lots of it. Leia let herself fell on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Ever since having managed to contact Thrawn telepathically. She had wondered if…

Leia reached for the Holocron and turned it around in her hands once more. _It was so beautiful…_ Her fingers traced the Sith writing on its hull. She wondered what it said, but Sith had been forbidden for a long time. _Perhaps something like, don’t open. Evil inside? _But evil or not. She needed some answers now.

With a skillful flick of her hand, the Holocron came to life.

“What is it, my young apprentice?”

Leia took a deep breath.

“Master Erciil, if I wanted to contact the person I told you about before, Luke, could I do it? He is far away... Thousands of parsecs, I guess. And if I did it, what are the chances my father would hear me?”

“Is he the one you kissed?” His smile was cold and the meaning in his eyes was unclear.

Leia rolled her eyes. “Yes, he is. But that’s not the reason I want to reach him.”

“I see.” The old man looked at her for a while like he was seeing right through her. Then he said: “You could try, but I doubt you would succeed because, for that, your way of thinking needs to be altered first. As I told you once before. Life, all of it, was created by and is the Force. All creation flows from it and nothing is separated from it. The Sith believe that the Force has its own consciousness which is omnipresent and absolute. Thus, distance is just as irrelevant as size or weight. The Force is everything."

"So, I can contact Luke?"

The Sith laughed.

"No, you cannot. Not yet at least.”

“Why?”

“You are late to seek out the Force, Princess, and you were raised in the belief in science. Science is a great thing, alas, it cannot tell us anything about the world beyond our perception. About what lies beyond our physical limitations. Nor can it tell us what is right and wrong. It can't explain the difference between ‘what is’ and ‘What ought to be’. Actually, science _hinders_ us to see those things. Because of it, we don’t even try. In a way science is an enemy of the Force."

Leia nodded. Ok, she could understand that. So, she simply had to neglect, to forget, the laws of physics and trust in the Force instead.

Erciil laughed, probably reading her thoughts on her face.

"No. It is not as easy as that. Your mind is still full of the 'impossible' and numbers and measures that mean nothing to the Force." He smiled. "You need the mind of a child, not only to believe in, but also to _do_ the impossible. That is also why the Chiss fails."

Leia raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"His proud, rational mind rebels against the so-called ‘supernatural’. He is too rational to truly believe in the Force and too in control of his emotions to give what the Dark Side seeks. His only access to the Force are weak memories of the past, fading with each day."

He shook his head.

"You face the same problems, but for you there is hope. You have so much passion inside of you and your mind is still open enough to learn."

“So, to put it in a nutshell, my mind isn’t open enough yet. And I don’t trust the Force enough.”

“Yes. You’re not ready yet. Lord Vader would be the only one who even had a remote chance of hearing you. You have to take it slow, my young apprentice.”

“But….” Leia stopped herself and almost cried. “I don’t have enough time!”

For a moment Leia considered telling him about C'baoth. _How would the Sith react to the prospect of another teacher? Perhaps, it was better to save that conversation for another time..._

“I just feel so helpless. So alone. I’m trapped and I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to do this on my own”

“You are never alone for as long as you have the Force, my child.” He said almost soothingly “Trust the Force, but remember that nothing in life comes without a cost and the Dark Side takes as much as it gives. You have to work hard and there will be pain, suffering, and loss. But there will also be power, great power and then nothing will be impossible.”

What followed was a holo-coaster ride for Leia. Learning, training, exercising, doubting her abilities as well as the Chiss’ intentions and all through it, it was hard to forget how time passed by and until it, eventually had run out…

*******

It was their final meeting. The last time to talk about this nonsense. The last time to change his mind. Leia swallowed. She wasn't ready. She felt like she would never be. _And how could one ever be truly be ready for such an enterprise?_ And she was afraid. With dread she remembered her encounter with Vader on the Death Star, and who was to tell her that C'baoth would be any different? He called himself a ‘Jedi Master’, but from what she had heard of him so far, he was anything but. Strange, at first, she had longed to leave her quarters, this ship. Now she felt quite comfortable in her ‘prison’.

“You don’t want me to go.”

Thrawn raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Is this supposed to be a Jedi mind trick? You should already know that it does not work on me, Princess. Neither that, nor your personal charm.”

“Yes, I know,” Leia gritted her teeth. “What works on you is what gives you an advantage, or what brings you closer to your goal. And at this point: that’s me.” She smiled.

“Explain.”

“You want your Force abilities back. Fine. But you know that training alone isn’t effective enough. I’ve noticed that too and I’ve been studying the Force only for short period of time. In the long run, your pretty Jedi teacher can’t help you the way I can.”

“I do not recall saying she was _pretty_,” the Chiss replied with a smug grin.

“Oh, isn’t she?”

“I would not use the word ‘pretty’ to describe an attractive woman.”

_Maybe he wasn’t interested in women at all…_

“If I found her appealing, I would say… beautiful.”

_Did he have to say that while looking Leia in the eye? Was he mocking her?_

She already knew she wasn’t his type – if he had any ‘type’. _And neither was he hers! Plus, besides his good looks, he had a terrible personality! And he was a freaking Imperial Grand Admiral! A friend of Palpatine’s! __He was_ _evil__incarnate. Had committed the most unforgivable crimes and had no redeeming qualities! _

“So… was she _beautiful_?”

Now the Princess was mocking him. If he were to admit to that, she could use it against him. Then she could say something like “So, _maybe that’s the reason why you cannot learn anything. You are too distracted_.”

But, of course, that was not what he said. Instead the strategic genius decided on a counterattack.

“And why are you so interested in her outward appearance?” Thrawn asked slyly. “Already bored with men? Want to try new things?”

Leia blushed.

“No! I…”

She cursed under her breath. The man was sending her into danger, in more ways than she cared to admit… 

“Pity. You are young, Princess. You have so much ahead of you. And there is so much you don’t know yet, even about yourself.”

Oh, he truly was the devil. But luckily, she wasn’t an angel herself.

“Good to know that you know everything about yourself, Grand Admiral,” Leia said bitterly. “But it doesn’t look like the knowledge gives you much pleasure, or satisfaction.”

He remained silent and studied her with those threateningly red eyes.

_Great_, Leia thought. _You made him angry and now he probably wants you off his ship as soon as possible._

_Maybe she should try a different approach?_

“Or you are too afraid to keep on practicing with me? Is that why you want me gone?”

_Perhaps provocation would work where tempting hadn’t. It was worth a try. _

“Of you?” He laughed. “I think we have been there.”

“Yes, I know it’s not me…” Leia eyed him carefully and then knew she had struck gold. “But you _are_ afraid…”

“Fear is a natural part of every conscious being’s survival instinct, Princess, but only Humanity manages to make it sound like an insult, pushing the intellectual less fortunate ones into their doom.” A small smile graced his lips. “Only a madman would not be afraid of the things I have seen. If you had, I dare say, you would find it hard to fall asleep for a long time.”

“I saw my homeworld blown into pieces. Try to beat that.”

When he didn’t reply, she added:

“That’s what you are afraid of, isn’t it? That the same will happen to your people if you fail? Did you see that in my head, Alderaan burning? Could you feel what I felt then? And now… you don’t want to see anymore? You don’t want to see the galaxy through my eyes?”

“Not necessarily. But if I should choose to ‘see the galaxy through your eyes’ as you so nicely put it, to understand you and your motivation. I have other ways to read you than using the Force to enter your mind.”

“Such as?”

“Perhaps, I will show you. Someday.”

“Or not. Now that you give me to C’baoth? Maybe we see each other for the last time.”

“I doubt that. Actually, I think we will ‘see each other’ quite often.”

_Did he plan to pay her visits on that planet…What was its name again? Wayland? Or would she be returning to the Chimaera to report on C’baoth?_

None of this was what the Princess had wanted to achieve with this conversation. Now she had more questions and still had to leave. Damn it. She wasn’t ready, despite what Thrawn or anybody else might think. She would fail. Suddenly she remembered what the Holocron had said: _there will be pain, suffering and loss._ Well that she _did _believe.

“You worry too much. Sometimes trying out new things is good for us”, Thrawn said reassuringly.

“And sometimes it isn’t.” The Princess spit back.

“Well…I guess we will see soon enough.”

***

Leia made a face when she swallowed the pills. It was easy to forget that almost every planet had its own gravity and solar standard when each and every Imperial ship, base, and garrison created its own 1G standard. Copying Coruscant, the megacity planet and capital of the Empire. Alderaan’s gravity had been close to 1G and as a Princess and Imperial senator people had made sure she did not suffer any inconveniences during her travels. Actually, Hoth had been her very first contact with gravity sickness, but she had gotten used to it soon enough.

“Does everyone have to take these?” She nodded towards the packet of pills.

The Chiss shook his head and swallowed the medication with a huge gulp of water.

“No.” He said then. “Stormtrooper armor counterbalances almost every gravity deficiency. Otherwise a quick ground attack would hardly be possible.” He smiled. “And some officers are allergic to Zedermol 3. They wear light exoskeletons underneath their uniforms. I prefer the pills though.”

Leia nodded. She could understand that. Wayland was smaller than Coruscant and walking on it without the pills would feel like walking with durasteel boots. Their bones just weren’t dense enough for this planet and walking on it would quickly result in extreme muscle fatigue. The pills would help and after a month the wonder that was the human body would have adjusted enough to discontinue medication. Another thing to worry about was the sun.

“Where are your sunglasses?” Leia asked. Well, that the stormtroopers didn’t need them was obvious. After all, the armor had more functions than pure intimidation, but what about the Chiss?

“I do not need them.” He pointed to his eyes. “My species evolved on an ice-planet. Outside the ice reflects everything, but most of my people live underground. Therefore, Chiss’ eyes are capable of adapting to extreme surroundings.”

“Practical.” Leia said while putting on her sunglasses. “But nature has a way to balance things.”

She studied the man opposite her. He looked too perfect, even with the funny little ysalamir wrapped around his shoulders. But nothing was ever perfect. _Ice-planet…._

“You may not need sunglasses, but I bet Wayland will be too warm for you.”

A grin teased the corners of his mouth.

“Perhaps.”

Leia smiled and checked her seatbelts once more. Of course, he couldn’t just say `yes´.

The shuttle rattled when they broke through the planet’s atmosphere. Instinctively Leia held on to her chair. She could already see the clouds outside the view-panel. Soon they would land.

***

_Wayland. _A lush, semi-tropical planet in the Outer Rim Territories. The air was warm and wet and the sun was burning brightly through the branches of tall, green trees.

They had landed close to a small settlement of wooden houses, which again was placed close to the jungle to benefit from the rich supply of wood and food and there was a lake close by. Beautiful, but primitive. Some men in furs and leather clothes greeted them, bow and arrow on their backs. On their way to the settlement, Leia noticed some women in grass skirts and shirts of animal hides. They seemed interested, but scared, quickly hiding the children in their houses when they passed by. For them, they probably seemed like gods. Leia remembered many stories of the Age of Human colonization throughout the known galaxy. Usually, the stories hadn’t ended well for the natives.

“Wait here.” One of the men said suddenly and pointed to the large mountain in the background. “The Guarding of the Mountain, our Lord and Protector, will be here soon.”

“Thank you,” Thrawn said and then looked around. Four death troopers took position around them.

“You don’t trust them?”

“I wanted to trust people. Once. But since then, I have learned that trust is a luxury I cannot afford. It is a hard lesson, but an imperative one.”

He pointed towards the building.

“C'baoth rules absolute and these people are his creatures. We are just a momentary distraction, whereas he is their permeant tormentor. We cannot trust any of them.”

“Ruling by fear can never install total loyalty.”

He turned to her and sighed.

“Wait until you have met C'baoth.” Leia’s stomach was turning. She did not want to meet him. Suddenly she wanted to go back to her prison.

“Tell me more about Master C'baoth then.” Leia asked.

“I prefer you find out yourself. But one word of caution: The man changes his mind with frightening ease. Probably because having such power means you cannot be contradicted.”

“Talking from experience?”

He smiled, but Leia instinctively knew the two men were nothing alike.

After some minutes that felt like an eternity, she saw him coming towards them. In the center of a procession the people. He was old, but tall and thin and agile, with long grey hair and a grey beard that reached almost to the middle of his chest, where she could make out a glittering, gold medallion with unknown symbols on it. He wore a brown and red robe and shin-laced sandals. His brown eyes were cold and arrogant as he looked at them. Later C'baoth studied her from head to toe before turning to the Grand Admiral.

“Well done, Admiral. Well done indeed.”

**TBC**


	10. In the Realm of Senses

**Chapter 10 - In the Realm of Senses**

All of a sudden, Master C’baoth’s eyes widened.

“The Force….I can’t feel it anymore.”

A small, content smile touched Thrawn's lips.

“Oh yes. My life insurance.”

“Your what?”

“My life insurance. After our last encounter, I thought it was worth the investment.”

“Stop talking in riddles.”

Thrawn didn’t react to the obvious command and lazily looked up to the ysalamir which was wrapped around his shoulders, gently stroking its neck. The two men had just met and already the power-play had begun. Leia’s eyes followed the Chiss’ hand and she immediately recognized the ysalamir. It was the same one he had brought to her quarters, but it had already grown. He was, indeed, taming it, turning it into a pet.

“These creatures you see on our backs are called ysalamiri.” There was a brief pause before he continued. “They have the unique and, from my perspective, extraordinarily appealing ability to push back the Force.”

“Push back the Force?! I've never heard of such a thing.” C'baoth said and stared at Thrawn's ysalamir like it was a demon right out of hell. “The Force _is _life. Therefore, a creature such as this shouldn’t exist. It makes no sense.”

“Just because the ysalamiri do not fit to Jedi doctrine, does not mean they cannot exist,” Thrawn stated, looking rather smug while stroking the animal. Leia suppressed a sigh. It was hard _not _to dislike him when he was like that.

“Your lack of faith will be your downfall, Admiral.” The Jedi hissed threateningly.

The Chiss cocked an eyebrow.

“I do not need faith to believe. And that I do, Master C’baoth. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought you the Jedi you asked for.” Thrawn said, resetting the old man’s focus to Leia.

_Great…._

“I admit, I didn’t think you could do it, Grand Admiral.”

“You are not the first to make that mistake.”

Leia glared at the Chiss. _Did he have a death wish? Or did he want to test the ysalamiri with a real Jedi? He was too intelligent to provoke him without good reason…_

The Jedi’s eyes flashed, but he said nothing.

“Princess Leia of Alderaan.”

“A real Princess?” The Jedi asked astonished.

“More or less.” The Chiss answered drily.

_More or less?! And who the hell did they think they were? Talking about her like she wasn’t present! _

With unknown bravery, Leia stepped forward.

“Yes, a real Princess.” With a smile she didn’t feel, Leia held out her hand. _She could handle this!_

“If that isn’t a pleasant surprise. Jorus C’baoth, Jedi Master.” His handshake was weaker than anticipated.

“Wonderful. And now that we all know each other, I would like to remind you of your part of the deal.”

“No need, Admiral. The Jedi always stay true to their word.” The old Jedi Master said.

“Just tell me when and where”

“Tomorrow at 10:00 hours.”

C’baoth nodded, while looking at Leia, his thoughts already somewhere else.

“A shuttle will pick you up 15 minutes prior.”

His head snapped to the side.

“You want me to come on board your _starship_?” He said the word like it was an insult.

“Inevitable for what I have in mind.”

“And what would that be?”

“What was that Human saying again, Captain?” He looked over to an older man with a mustache behind him. `Curiosity kills the cat.´ Besides, the Princess will be there too. You might want to teach her afterwards.”

“The Princess stays here.” Master C’baoth said and waved his hand in a treacherous movement.

“No, she will not. How else could I ensure your unwavering commitment to the course.”

“That is all you have… threats.”

“As long as it works.”

“Yes, but _only as long as it does_.” The old man raised his hand, smiled and then swiftly snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, Leia found herself and a cold, dark room. Grey stones all around them. Torches on the walls. _They were inside the mountain! Her heartbeat quickened. What had happened? Had she been too far away from the ysalamiri?!_

The old man chuckled quietly and then sat down at the end of an old oak table.

“Sorry, about that. But our blue friend is so controlling. And I enjoy reminding him what real power is all about." He smirked.

"I…don’t understand.”

“Of course not. It’s all the power you have ever known. Conquering worlds you never visit, collecting taxes and commanding shiny star ships, but that is no power.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “True power only derives from the Force. Every human on this planet, every Psadan, and every Myneyrsh is mine to command.” He looked into one of the candle’s flames on the table. “I teach them as a Jedi should. I command them. Their lives, and their deaths, are in my hand.” Then his gaze shifted to Leia.

_Hers too? Great plan, Thrawn… Hadn’t he said he was a strategist? _

Leia swallowed.

“But… I thought the role of a Jedi is to advise and to protect.” She wasn’t sure how far she could go, it had sounded like he still held on to some of the Jedi values, but it was better to tread carefully here. “As far as I know, the Jedi served the people - for the good of the galaxy.”

“And that is what I do. I advise them. I tell them what to do and teach them about the Force. These people are primitives. Savages really. They need guidance and a strong hand.”

_Yeah._ Leia thought darkly. _That’s how conquerors thought, but in the end, he stilled ruled over them like a king did – absolute. C’baoth called himself a Jedi-Master, but he wasn’t. He was a Sith. And if not that, then he was at least a really, really, corrupted Jedi._

Suddenly, the old man laughed again.

“I will teach you and then you will understand. I can see it. It rages inside you and it grows - untamed potential… But tell me, child. Do you wish to learn?”

Somehow, she hadn’t expected that question.

“He forced me to come here,” Leia admitted.

The old man smiled.

“Instruction in the Force is the greatest honour. Therefore, rejoice my young apprentice. But your anger towards the alien is justified. He uses people. But you already knew that. Still… do you want to learn how to use the Force? A reluctant student will never achieve greatness.”

_Did she? Yes, of course. Not necessarily with him though. Still..._

“Yes, I want to learn, Master C’baoth.”

“Good. Through me you will achieve power beyond your wildest dreams and the Chiss will pay for thinking he can use the Jedi.” He smiled at her and it made her shiver. “Because the Jedi will always be the ultimate power in the universe. We will do as we choose.” He declared, the words ringing through the room. “And we will destroy anyone who stands in our pass.”

“I …” Leia hesitated. “I don’t seek his death.” That was true, on the other hand, the old man wasn’t wrong. She was angry with Thrawn. He hadn’t asked for her help. He had kidnapped her. He had just taken. Like the Empire always did. It took. And from her it had taken everything. She hated the Empire and she wanted it gone. For good. Leia concentrated on that hate and projected it to C’baoth as Master Erciil had told her. 

“The Empire took everything from me.” Leia said finally. “And the Grand Admiral is like all the others. And now I want to take from them.”

“A natural feeling. And do not worry about them or anyone. They are nothing. The Force will crush them and you will have your revenge.”

_Was it really revenge she wanted? Was that the driving force behind her fight for the Alliance? Leia liked to believe she did it for the good of the galaxy. To save the people from the tyranny of the Empire, but was that, perhaps, only half the truth? No one was that pure, right? They had blown up her home-planet and had made her watch for heaven’s sake! _

“Yes, that is what I want, Master C’baoth. Revenge.”

Almost at the same time she had said the word, the heavy wooden door was forced open and at least six blasters were armed at C’baoth’s head.

The Jedi laughed.

“Why so much violence, Admiral? I would never hurt my student. And you are my guests.”

He waved over some of his servants.

“Jago, Doral, tell your people that they have guests tonight. They are good friends of mine and I want them to be treated accordingly.”

“I do not think ….”

“I insist, Admiral. Consider it a peace offering.”

***

Meanwhile, it had become surprisingly dark outside. Of course, the days were shorter here, Leia suddenly remembered.

“What happened?” Leia hissed while following their guide through the woods.

“Later.” Thrawn replied.

_Great! So far, his plan had been a disaster! He better had a good explanation for that!_

“Fwaue zuni hr'ae chusjae?” Their guide asked.

“Sae zuni sou mêuhr'o hu chusjae, maie hoxêma fwaou qouttlnifwxêa'qoue qouttlnifwxêa'qoou sae hr'ahr’o.” Thrawn answered in the same, strange language.

Leia had no idea what was going on. The drums became louder and the darkness vanished as they came closer to the fire. Jago showed them to sit down on some grass mats that had been laid out for them and some women quickly placed some golden fruit bowls at their feet. Looked like they were the guests of honour.

“What did he say?” The Princess finally asked, after having taken off her shoes and the jacket. It had become significantly colder since dawn, but it was surprisingly warm, almost hot, so close by the fire.

“The literal translation would be `What do you dance?´”

“Dance?” The idea of Thrawn dancing was an alien one.

“Yes. But a better translation would be ‘Where do you come from?´ Here in the jungle the tribes distinguish from another by different dances. I told him we came from so far away that we do not have a dance.”

Leia looked at the man. It was obvious that he had a hard time believing that, but looking over the fire the was easy to see why; music and dances seemed to be a central part of their culture.

“The man over there, the one in red, his name his Longo. He is the elder and chief of the tribe. He wishes to speak to us later on.” The Chiss eyed the people in front of them. “Their culture is very different to ours, but complex and beautiful in its own way.” He said then. “It often involves songs, dances and rituals like this. Elaborate spectacles of colours, sounds and movements. But sometimes there are animal sacrifices too, which are less charming. And then there is feasting and praying to their numerous Gods.”

“Most Human cultures started like this.”

The Chiss nodded.

“So I have heard.”

Leia suddenly noticed a woman painting another one. Then she looked around once more. Red. All of them wore red on their faces, on their arms and on their hands. Temporary, beautifully crafted tattoos.

“What is it about the colour red?”

“The body-paint?” The Chiss asked. “As far as I know it is called ‘Nikiti’ and is made out of snail shells, clay and wine. Sometimes they add blood or semen too. Depending on the ritual.”

“Semen?” Leia repeated, disgust written all over her face.

“Primitive cultures work around primitive needs. Most of their rituals, therefore concern harvest and fertility.”

Coming out of his mouth, it sounded pretty plausible. Like listening to some boring commentator of a Holo Documentary.

Leia looked back at the people.

_Was today’s event about harvest or fertility then? _

The dances were wild and colourful and most involved two or more people moving in tune, and some of the dancers wore masks, depersonalizing them. Often, but not always, men danced with women to the heavy, rhythmic beat of the drums. They danced together, Leia realised, but still separately, not like an Imperial Standard Walz at all. But all in all, it was fast and wild and animalistic.

_Fertility then…. Perhaps all of this was sensory excitement; like sexual foreplay? And then, later, the climactic fulfillment in the act of sex? _

Suddenly, the flame of the fire in front of them spiked and tore her from her thoughts. Little sparks flew up in the air, and Leia’s eyes followed them. _How beautiful._ Here, in the jungle, between the grass huts, the sky was still dark and the fire cloaked everything in an almost mystical light.

“Maou p. Maie p hoxêma puni hr'ae.” A young woman unexpectedly said and handed them some cups.

“Chusfwie.”

“What is that?”

“A drink, I guess.”

Leia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. _That much she had guessed on her own!_

One of the death troopers came over and quickly scanned their cups.

“Not lethal. But it contains large quantities of ethanol.” He explained briefly and then left.

_Alcohol?!_ Leia’s eyes shown bridle. _After everything she had been through, she had earned this. Big time!_

_***_

There was a kind of ferocity and animality in the dancers' movements. The men were jumping through the bonfire, literally playing with it, risking severe burns. The women formed their own circle, whirling in a dance; their thin, airy dresses hooked on the branches of trees and bushes as a procession of laughing, singing and dancing people was moving through the woods. The fragments of torn dresses marked the route of their wanderings and seemed to indicate some mysterious forest path for people to follow.

The singing became louder as the dancers approached the fire. At that time, the men tried to grab some of the female dancers, in order to pull them out of the circle and into the bushes... The men who managed to grab a partner were spinning the women in a fast, suggestive dance, and when the chosen one finally agreed to give in, both of them would move away from the fire to a more secluded place.

Leia was astonished by the dancers' audacity and the extent to which they were able to lose themselves in the dance: that they so eagerly succumbed to the primitive passions and carnal lusts, completely ignoring the consequences such a night might have. They were not afraid of anything, as if they did not risk anything: animal masks hid their identity, and herbal concoctions probably protected the dancing women from an unplanned pregnancy... All this fun had to be safe, since they were so willing and carefree to give it away. Random partners, exciting dancing and then sex, in pairs of two or in groups, somewhere in the grass...Or the life under C’baoth was so unpredictable that they simply seized the night and didn’t care about anything else.

When the Princess held out her cup again, in an obvious attempt to have it refilled with this strange alcohol, she thought about how great it would be to join the female circle, to hold other dancers’ hands, to run, jump and have fun. She envied the dancers' freedom. She looked at Thrawn, who at that moment was too busy talking to the shaman to pay attention to her, and then she spotted the stormtroopers. _If she silently slipped away now, she might be able to join in and have fun. She just needed a mask..._

She had barely gotten up from her seat, when the guards already rushed to her side. Probably the Grand Admiral made them watch her with their life. No wonder after what had happened before. She felt like a prisoner again, escorted from place to place. She could have used the Force to play a mental trick on the stormtroopers, but the strong drink made her head spin, so that it was impossible to concentrate enough to generate the desired effect. And there were the ysalamiri nearby as well to prevent her from using her new abilities. In this state, the only thing she could do was waving her hand in front of the stormtroopers’ helmets and require of them to let her through, while looking rather foolish. Neither the Force nor her natural charisma could help her now. Plus, the two guards were probably too afraid of Thrawn's rage to disregard his orders.

She gestured to her empty mug. The stormtroopers blankly looked at her. Leia sighed loudly. This was not why they had come to this celebration - to watch the primitive tribes playing, like scientists! If she was already denied dancing and other pleasures, she would at least talk to one of the native women - to ask her if she would braid her hair in a pattern similar to theirs, or to paint her with one of those washable henna tattoos. She certainly did not intend to spend the evening sitting alone in a corner, waiting for the Grand Admiral to decide whether or not he wished to keep her company for the rest of the evening.

Anyway, she didn't need Thrawn to have fun. On the contrary. The Chiss could spoil her mood like no one else. He was so annoying.

_Did he upset Vader too?..._ Leia shook her head. She didn't want to think about it now. About _him_.

She was going to have a nice time, surrounded by those friendly people for whom she was _a guest_, not an enemy and a prisoner. She had spent far too much time on a star destroyer talking to holograms, and an Imperial Grand Admiral whose ego matched the size of his flagship… Even without knowing the language of the natives, the princess found it easier to communicate with them than with the Imperial soldiers. She could talk to these women, gain their sympathy, and then, perhaps, use their help to escape from this planet. It wasn't, in fact, the worst plan. She had to start somewhere. With that on mind, the Princess, surrounded by death troopers, headed towards a group of women. Her first step towards freedom. At least she hoped so.

“May I join in?” The Princess asked, and after an encouraging nod, sat down in one of the smaller circles of women.

One of them refilled her cup, without asking. This was her third. _‘Drink slowly`_ A tiny voice in her head said, but Leia decided to ignore it.

_Not today. _

With a smile on her face, she took the first sip.

_And a bit of fun never hurt anybody, right?_

***

Her head hurt. A lot. Leia was drunk and had trouble going down the long and seemingly never-ending corridors of the _Chimaera. _

“Careful.” The Grand Admiral caught her right in time when she was in danger of losing her balance.

His fingers clenched on her arm and stayed there for a while; longer than it could be considered as customary, innocent gesture. There was almost something possessive, inappropriate in it. Something which Thrawn normally wouldn’t show if his senses weren’t dulled by the alcohol. Or maybe Leia was seeing too much in it, maybe his reactions were just slower than usual and because of that he didn’t immediately take his hands off her. Although, he sounded perfectly sober when he spoke:

“We should have gone earlier.”

_Yes, he was probably right. But it had felt so good. _After everything Leia had gone through, it had been a damn good feeling to be appreciated. To dance and drink and get these hannah tattoos. Smilingly Leia looked down on her nicely-painted hands. She could feel the Chiss was also staring at her tattoos, perhaps silently admiring them too. _If he liked them, why didn’t he get his own? Was he too proud to ask for one or two?_

"You know as well as I that if you are the guest of honour, you cannot just leave." She said in the most suffocated Coruscanti- accent she could muster, while going inside her quarters.

She was surprised that Thrawn followed her there… _Why would he do that? To make sure if she was going to be all right and not tumble again? Did he really care? Unlikely. Perhaps he wanted to lecture her. He wouldn’t leave without having the final word. Typical of him._

"Really? Usually, you do not seem to mind behaving unlady-like whenever it pleases you."

_So she was right. He just couldn’t stop himself from criticizing her._

"Perhaps once or twice," Leia replied, took off her jacket and threw it on the chair.

"_All_ the time." He corrected.

"Oh no.” She came closer to him and put her hands on her hips. ”Only when _you_ are around. You should have seen me when I was still a Princess. When I had dresses and jewels and my behaviour was exemplary.”

"Pity I missed that. The only thing I see now is a drunk woman, rumbling on about the unfairness of the galaxy."

Leia pursed her lips. _Was she really doing that? No, of course not!_

"You only say that because you are jealous! Because I had fun; because those people liked me!"

"Liked you?" He laughed. "I guess the alcohol blunted your judgment to the sycophancy of those people, little, naïve Princess."

Anger boiled in her veins. She didn’t even notice when she came so close to him that she could feel the heat of his body through her jumpsuit. She didn’t step back. She never did.

"Sadly, it did not blunt my judgment of you. You are still the stiff, arrogant bastard you were before. Come on, admit it, you just can't stand to lose, can you? The _great, strong Grand Admiral of the mighty Galactic Empire_."

“What exactly am I losing? False friends and their flattery?”

“Me.”

That shut his mouth for a moment. He gave her an angry glare and in return received victorious smile.

“As you prefer to keep your enemies closer than friends, no wonder there are only enemies around you to keep you company. And now you’re losing even that. You are going to be lonesome for the rest of your life. Just because you cannot take off that uniform of yours and have fun!”

His eyes flashed like fire while he was listening to her with great attention. In the end, a little, cynical smile appeared on his thin blue lips.

“That’s what you suggest? That I take off my uniform and have fun with you?”

She instantly regretted saying those words. They gave him the wrong idea.

“I meant… you should try to act less `admiraly´. You are too afraid to ever lose control. Do you even live? Or is it just work and duty? When was the last time you drank too much? Or kissed a woman - or a man - or whatever?“

He laughed. _He laughed at her!_

“You are drunk, Princess.”

“Yes, I am. I don’t deny it. At least I’m not a coward like you who cannot face his feelings!”

She licked her lips. His eyes followed the movement of her tongue.

“That’s why you fail when you try to use the Force, you know? You lack passion.”

“Do I?”

His intention was obvious when he reached for her and covered her body with his. He put one of his hands on her left hip and the other hand reached for her head when his lips met hers. His sent overpowered her. A mixture of liquor and expensive aftershave filled her nostrils. Her heart raced and her chest ached as she struggled for air and a narcissistic part of her was pleased when she felt his arousal pressed against her stomach. And at the same time, she hated him _– passionately - _for arousing these strong and totally wrong feelings for him inside of her. _Damn this man!_

“I hate you.” Leia hushed, cheeks flushed, eyes half-closed.

“I know.”

**TBC**


	11. The World according to Gilad Pellaeon

**A/N:** A quick and short update. Enjoy. :)

**Chapter 11 - The World according to Gilad Pellaeon**

_Madness_.

All of this was madness and only the duty that was part of his every cell made him stay in place. Gilad came from one of the Core Worlds, Corellia to be more precise, and his family had been in the Navy for generations. _Duty before self – _that had always been the rule and he had followed it, which in turn had aided his career more than a little. Some of his superiors had been better than others and when he had first started his commission under the Chiss, he hadn‘t been particularly thrilled. Grand Admiral or not, Thrawn had a reputation of being eccentric and giving commands that, at the time they were given, made little to no sense, except to himself. But he had gotten used to it. He had even gotten over the fact that the alien had built a second bridge for himself where he spent most of his time doing …what? Looking at art? There had to be more, for no one could study art that long – but he didn‘t know what. They weren’t that close. And he had also gotten used to the Noghri, the freakish grey aliens with their cloaking devices. Not that he liked them, never mind trusted them, but he had gotten used to them because, in the end, whatever Thrawn touched somehow turned to gold. There had been so many obstacles in his path, so much prejudice and even some cases of court-marshal and in the end, the Chiss had somehow come out victorious. He was a pure genius on the battlefield, but – Pellaeon clenched his yaw – dealing with this mad, cloned Jedi master was madness. He had objected, of course, twice.

_“Your objection has been noted, Captain.“_ was all the Grand Admiral had said. _Like that would do them any good if they were dead! _

Pellaeon thought the best about Force Users was seeing them leave. They were like a wildcard that usually didn‘t work in his favour. Yes, the Emperor was a Force User too, but he had never sought his company. Or Vader‘s. A cold shiver ran down his back when he remembered his brief, albeit remarkable, encounter with the Sith. No, he had never liked them on board. Not in the past, not now. It was like a cold grip of death had taken hold of the soldiers. There was no more talk, no more laughter. But an unseen feeling of dread everywhere. A tension that filled the air and he could feel it now too. Nobody wanted C‘baoth here. Nobody, except Thrawn, and, unfortunately, his opinion was the only one that mattered.

“Captain? Is my flagship ready?”

Pellaeon brought his mind back to the business at hand and looked at the display in front of him. The space was empty, the Destroyers were in place and the TIE fighters were manned and ready.

“The Chimaera is fully at your command, Admiral,” he said, according to military protocol and hoped his voice would not betray his inner rebellion.

“Excellent.“ With that, the Grand Admiral‘s command chair turned around and he now faced the old Jedi, fingers placed together. 

“Master C'baoth?”

“I‘m ready to take command.“

Pellaeon winced and threw another glance at Thrawn. _How could he stand it?_ Force Users were always _`Ready to take command.´_ And that was the problem. Thrawn couldn’t honestly believe to keep him in line. He would do whatever _he_ thought was right. Giving him command over Imperial resources, however small, was madness.

The Ysalamir behind him had climbed over the framework and on his shoulder. Another thing he didn’t like: _Animals on his bridge! He had had a dog when he had been young, but this was different!_

He glanced at his superior again, whose face remained as impassive as ever. Not for the first time, Pellaeon wondered whether this was part of his species or just Thrawn.

As if he had read his mind, the Chiss turned to him, a small smile on his face.

“Good. Captain, start operation Red Dawn.”

“Yes, sir.” Pellaeon reached out and activated a switch on his tablet. Suddenly, a countdown appeared on the large view screen before them.

4, 3, 2, 1, 0 and the stars turned to bright lines. The Seventh had jumped to lightspeed.

Three minutes later they returned to normal space. A large, yellow planet filled the viewscreen.

“Helm?“

“One moment….All ships have arrived, Sir. All systems operate normally.“

“Shields up and launch fighters.“

The words had barely left his mouth when he saw them. Rebel ships. Leaving the small Space Station in orbit like rats a sinking ship. They had no chance.

“Obliterate them.“ Pellaeon heard Thrawn‘s voice.

The fighters were coming at them like a swarm of angry insects.

“Any special wishes, Admiral?” C’baoth asked.

“As quick and efficient as possible.“

The Jedi gave him a dissatisfied look. Then he closed his eyes and sat unnaturally stiff. His hands held onto the chair‘s armrests, while his eyes moved quickly behind the closed eyes. It looked weird. Frighteningly so.

Pellaeon’s eyes went back to the screen. C’baoth controlled the TIEs now. Thrawn had told them to listen to the old man‘s voice in their head. At the same time, the old Jedi influenced the enemy. Not all of them of course. The leaders were enough. He fed them with wrong, lethal information. Breaking them apart, leading them right into their doom.

They didn‘t need C‘baoth for this, of course. The Star Destroyers were more than a match for those fighters and the space station that had aided the Rebels, but now they were spectators and an insurance if the Jedi‘s powers were less grand than promised.

To Pellaeon‘s dismay, they were not. The battle went well. A bit too well.

He checked the display. All categories green, minimal losses, shields at 100%...

_This would not help him to make the Admiral change his mind._

He bit down on his lower lip. When Thrawn had informed him of his `plan´ he had been outraged, as it, per se, had not only included a loose cannon in the form of C‘baoth, but it had also implied that the Emperor and Vader were doing the same, which in turn downsized the accomplishments of the navy in general, which had not gone down well with him.

Pellaeon sighed. But it looked like the Chiss had been right – again. A Force User, who worked on their side, made a huge difference.

Still, he didn‘t have to like him. Suddenly, he noticed the Chiss’ gaze on him again. He was testing him too - whether he would do as he had been told. Well, they hadn‘t known each other for long.

_No worries Admiral, I will comply…_

He pursed his lips.

“Please order the second squadron to return to the Chimaera, Master C‘baoth.“

“There is no need for your request other than to see if I can control even more people at the same time.“

“I thought that is what you like best. Or can you not do it?“

Pellaeon looked at the Chiss. C’baoth was getting exhausted and - angry. He wasn‘t sure if annoying the Jedi was a good idea at this point. Though he could understand why the Admiral did it. He needed to know the limits of his power.

“As you wish.“ The older man hissed through gritted teeth.

Ten minutes later, the battle was over.

“Well done, Master C’baoth. I am impressed.”

“As you should be, having witnessed true power.”

The eyes of the two men met in a moment of silence.

“Now, where is my Jedi, Grand Admiral?”

***

Why Thrawn had chosen him to accompany the Jedi to the Princess’ quarters was beyond Pellaeon. Maybe he wanted to test him further. Or he just liked to annoy him. Both was possible.

“Tell me, Captain, what do you think of the Grand Admiral?”

“It is not my habit to form an opinion about my commanding officer.”

The old man chuckled as they left the tubrolift.

“We all do. And I don’t need the Force to see that you’re not content with what he does.”

Pellaeon bit the inside of his cheek. A terrible habit he had picked up some time ago to remain calm.

Finally, he saw the Princess’ door at the end of the corridor. He couldn’t wait to get rid of C’baoth. Wordlessly the Imperial put his key-cylinder inside the door’s controls and entered his security code.

With a hiss the door opened.

“My feelings are of no importance,” Pelleaon said and then guested for the Jedi to enter.

“On the contrary, Captain. Feelings are always important.” The Jedi answered and smiled, before – finally – disappearing.

The door closed and Pellaeon stared at it for a second. He didn’t envy the Princess. Then he sighed and checked his chrono. His shift was over. And he needed a coffee. Or an aspirin. Or both. The whole Princess Leia thing was another matter he was not too fond of. All of it had started with the Chiss’ great idea to go down to Tatooine to meet Jabba the Hut. In-person! He had died a thousand deaths up here, while the Grand Admiral had play bounty hunter! It still made his blood boil. The Grand Admiral was reckless to endanger his life like this and it was his job to keep him safe. To tell him what he thought and to give some guidance, some advice. But he had never listened. Thrawn just did what he thought was right.

And he was spending far too much time with the Princess…Rumour had it that he had joined her in her quarters last night. Pellaeon shook his head. A starship was a small space and someone _always_ noticed. And women liked to gossip, well not only the women, but it had been one of the female commanders who had informed him about the latest news shortly before C’baoth had boarded the Chimaera. _What on earth had Thrawn been thinking? She was a Rebel and a present for C’baoth!_ It made no sense. And it had stirred up the crew. Not because it was illegal, but because half of the female crew was secretly – or not so secretly – in love with the Chiss. So, he could have had his pick a long time ago if he’d wanted to. There had to be something special about her and he wanted to know what.

**TBC**


	12. Memories and Future Plans

**Chapter 12 - Memories and Future Plans**

“Master Erciil, can you use meditation to remember things you have forgotten for some reason?”

The Sith looked at the Princess with interest.

"Forgotten?” He repeated, trying to understand what she meant with that.

“You're asking about memories removed with the Force or by magic? Or as a result of some elixir?”

“As a result of an elixir.” She confirmed eagerly.

But, truth to be told, Leia wasn't sure whether this mysterious "elixir" had been mysterious at all. It was just as likely that it had been good, old, plain, strong alcohol.

_So, what if there was no "magic" in all of this? _

The morning after the tribal celebrations on Wayland, in which she had participated, accompanied by, or - better - supervised by, a handful of imperial soldiers and Grand Admiral Thrawn, the princess had awoken with a huge hangover and a general lack of memories of how she had gotten to her quarters and into her bed. The fact that she had found parts of yesterday's wardrobe scattered all over the floor naturally had aroused the suspicion that she hadn’t been alone at the time and that, probably, a man had been involved in it.

_Thrawn?_

The Chiss had seemed as cold as a fish and insensitive to her charm, but Leia couldn't think of a better candidate when it came to the question of the potential "offender". After all, she had little to no contact to other men on board the _Chimaera_. The Grand Admiral had taken care of that, probably fearing that she might try to seduce one of his officers during one of her desperate escape plans. No. Thrawn was watching her like a dragon a mountain of gold. He wouldn't let anyone come close to her, especially with erotic intentions in mind. Although... back then, in the woods, the Grand Admiral had let Leia out of his sight for a moment, which she then had used to make friends with some of the women of Wayland. They had served her some drinks and she had allowed them to cover her body with not one, but several henna tattoos. Later, she had even danced in a circle, with some other women, until the stormtroopers had pulled her out by force. She also remembered the fury in the Grand Admiral's red eyes when she had called him a bundle of names. She could not recall the exact words, but she had no doubt that they had been quite offensive.

So, Thrawn had been angry with her – well, it was hard to imagine that after such a thing he had been in the mood to go to bed with her. _Unless..._ Well, he was her enemy and he did not have any warm feelings for her.. and, usually, he only thought about how he could use other people for his own purposes…

_Still, there had to be some moral boundaries even the Chiss wouldn't cross. Right?_

There were no signs of a struggle on her body, which seemed strange to her, because if some man - _Thrawn?_ \- had tried to force her to have sex with him, there, surely, would have been a struggle between them... However, Leia could not see any scratches or bruises - even those that she could have inflicted upon herself, tripping over various objects while being drunk - because she must have been _very_ drunk that evening – trying to reach her quarters. Either that drunken march had gone exceptionally well, or somebody - _Thrawn? _– had helped her walk and into bed. But it did not necessarily have to be the Grand Admiral himself, it could have been a guard or some assault officer. However, the princess strongly suspected that it had been Thrawn - she was almost certain that she had still been talking to him when she had arrived on board the _Chimaeera_, before going to bed. That, or she simply imagined things. _Although..._

Well, some of her cloudy "memories" could have been a dream or visions caused by the strange alcohol. For example, the one in which the Grand Admiral had kissed her. No. He wouldn't do that. Unless, perhaps, as a "thank you" after she had single-handedly defeated the whole Grysk fleet for him. Then, perhaps. But not just like that. Not as a result of an impulse or because of some complicated feelings or passion. No. It wasn't his style…

_So, maybe, she had had sex with someone else and had imagined being with the Grand Admiral instead? Or perhaps she was wrong again? Maybe this whole “morning battlefield scene” had been staged by the master-strategist so that Leia would draw the wrong conclusions?_ Thrawn could have done a thing like that, she thought. He wouldn't have slept with her, but it was not beneath him to make her _think_ he had. And if she were to ask him about last night, he would lie. Perhaps she might be able to break through his mental barriers and see the truth for herself. But before that, she wanted to try something else. Something simpler.

“My memories of the last dozen or so hours are a little hazy," she told her teacher. “Is there a way to get them back?”

Erciil smiled at her indulgently.

“You should be able to reach them during trance," he told her. “Your mind is strong, and no potion of primitive people or some mental tricks of this Chiss can take your memories from you. Only a Master of the Force, a mighty Sith or a strong Jedi, possesses such powers. So, do not worry, my young apprentice.”

The princess thought then that perhaps now the time to tell the Sith Master about C'baoth had come. He, surely, was powerful and power-hungry enough to try to trick Leia and mess with her head. And while in prime condition, the princess might have been able to defy him, under the influence of alcohol, she would have been an easy target for a Force user such as him. However, she didn't remember seeing C'baoth later. _Did that mean that he...? No_. Thrawn had made sure that there had been ysalamiri around her all the time. So, in this situation, her memory loss could not have been C'baoth's doing.

It must have been the potion then... Erciil claimed that, as a Force user, Leia could solve the riddle at hand herself. She just had to meditate, explore her mind and find the lost memories. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

***

Pellaeon was worried.

_What was his plan? _He asked himself, not for the first time.

He should be mad that the Chiss had not shared his ideas with him, but instead he found himself missing the old times. The times he had still served under Admiral Raxis – when things had been `normal´. Before there had been a crazy Jedi Knight and a Rebel Princess.

His hand hesitated in front of the door.

_Pull yourself together, Gilad._

With long strides, he entered the Admiral’s second bridge, which, as always, felt unnaturally large and cold without the crew present.

“Ah, Captain.” The Chiss said and turned around to the Human approaching him.

“What do you think of the test results?”

“An impressive outcome, but we would have managed without Master C’baoth.”

“Of course.”

The Grand Admiral went over to his command chair and studied some holographic chart.

“Any news from Coruscant?”

“No, Sir.”

Red eyes bore into his.

“We have had interferences before, but not like this.” He said quietly. “Have the long-distance relays been checked?”

Pellaeon shook his head.

“No, but we are at it, so far things look alright, but some of our maintenance teams ran into trouble. Two members of team 12 lost their lives when they ran into some pirates who used the relay for their own transmissions.”

“Pity. Increase protection for the remaining teams. As much as we can spare and contact me if we found the problem.”

Pellaeon raised an eyebrow.

“If? Not _when_?”

The Chiss sat down on his chair and put his fingers together in a thoughtful motion.

“Humans might call it a gut-feeling, but I prefer to refer to numbers. The chances are low.”

“But if it’s not the relays then…”

“…then we either have a traitor on board, our transmissions are being caught before they can reach the relays or the other side is not answering.”

Pellaeon inhaled sharply. He couldn’t be serious.

“Sir…are you implying?....”

“It happened before. The navy was in total disarray for weeks.” He smiled at the Human. “We have to consider all possibilities, Captain.” With new energy, he closed the map and got up from his chair.

“Send one of the smaller frigates to investigate. Tell them not to head to Coruscant directly, but to stop at Sullust first. They should know more.”

The Captain nodded and typed in some commands on his pad.

“Is there anything else, Captain?”

“Niles Ferrier has arrived.”

“First good news of the day.” A cold smile appeared his thin lips. “Let him in then.”

The door opened and a dark-haired, large, bearded, middle-aged Human entered the room.

“Nicely done, Admiral,” he said while shifting his cigarra from one side of his mouth to the other. “Karrde totally bought it.”

“Thank you, Ferrier,” Thrawn said dryly. “Your approval means so very much to me.”

For a second his grin seemed to slip, but the thief caught himself soon enough.

“Yeah, well. Anyway. What can I do for you, Grand Admiral?”

“For a start, I would highly recommend to put out that cigarra. I have hurt it can be lethal.” There was no way to miss the threatening undertone in his voice.

“Alright. No reason to get cranky.” He went back to the door and put the gleaming stick in the trash shoot.

When he returned Thrawn studied him a bit longer than necessary, probably thinking why he had to deal with men like Ferrier in first place.

“Your report, Ferrier.”

“Ah. Yes.” He grinned again. “Things went well. As soon as Karrde swallowed your bait, he sent out a series of transmissions last night.” he grinned. “He called for another smuggler meeting. So, I figured I should go too and you know…talk to him. Offer some assistance, you know? My cell is small, but effective and once….”

“You will do nothing of the sort,” Thrawn said sharply. “You will sit in a corner and keep your mouth shut.”

Ferrier seemed to shrink back a little. “Why? It would be easy to….”

“You will do exactly what I tell you, Ferrier. And I don’t think I have to remind you of the consequences if you don’t.”

The thief nodded, albeit reluctantly.

“Your job is to make sure that a certain data card is placed into Karrde's possession. Preferably in the office aboard his ship.”

The Chiss went to his chair and got a data card from one of his drawers.

“Ok,” Ferrier said slyly as he took it.

“What is it?”

“All I need to leave Karrde bare for the vultures. Helpless and friendless.”

Ferrier studied the data card. Doubts clouding his mind.

“You owe the Empire, Ferrier. And that debt will be paid.”

The man swallowed.

“Of course, Admiral.”

***LATER THAT DAY, THRAWN’S OFFICE***

He sat behind his desk when she entered, reading.

"Princess." He said, but in his eyes was no joy of a lover, and his voice sounded almost benevolent, like that of a good-minded father or uncle.

Leia's heart sank, though she was better trained than to show.

"Grand Admiral."

He carefully deactivated the datapad when she came closer, but she had seen enough.

"The Lady Melisande?"

Leia asked and a smile flew over her beautiful face.

"A good match, I dare say."

Women like to be cruel when scorned and Leia was no exception.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The first daughter of chairman Angeline if I'm not mistaken. She combines political power and an exotic background. Besides, the Pantoran Assembly would do well in forming a stronger alliance with the Empire."

The Chiss lay back in his chair and eyed her. Of course, he aimed higher than that. Much higher. But how far could an alien, even if he had climbed the ladder as high as he had, truly go? No one in decent Imperial society would marry an alien. Leia doubted even her parents would have allowed it.

The thought hurt and it also brought troublesome questions along. More and more her mind was plagued by the question of who she truly was. She tried to calm the voice in her head that got louder and louder, especially in times of solitude of which she had plenty on board his ship.

_Was she still the Princess she played?_ A part of her screamed “no”. Alderaan was gone and even before that she had never been a Princess of true blood. She had always been too plain, too rugged and too competitive - or at least she had felt that way. Breha Organa would turn in her grave if she were to see the men in her beloved daughter’s life. Domadi they had tolerated, but Leia had never been naive enough to believe to marry him. Solo would have been considered a disgrace - and an alien, Imperial Officer? No true Alderaanian Princess would have done that.

"Your talent of deduction leaves a lot to be desired if that is the conclusion to which you have come, Princess." He said with his remarkable voice and played with a small silver lightpen.

"Thankfully you have other talents."

Leia knew better than to comment to his obvious provocation. She would have liked to say it was because of her good education but knew that this time it was more likely the lack of knowledge that held her tongue. No, she would not give him that satisfaction. Well, perhaps there was something royal, something graceful, in her after all. Her mother had been a queen once. An elected queen, which wasn't quite the same, but the Naberrie family had a long history and a name that still carried some weight on Naboo. Yes, she had done her research. After all, people liked to belong.

Leia pulled down the black top of her black, turtlenecked overall. She had decided on the least suggestive clothes in her wardrobe to address the Grand Admiral. She cleared her throat.

"I dare say, Master C'baoth would agree. He seemed pleased with my natural talent in the Force and wants to continue my training on the planet."

The Grand Admiral remained silent.

"A dangerous idea."

"My quarters are very limited."

"You could use my sparing room or one of the empty cargo storage rooms."

He did not want to let her go, but not for reasons of the heart, for sure. In his handsome profile, she saw his yawn tightening and then silently reprimanded herself for the thought, for it was more than pure, factual observation. Yes, she like the sight of him and the thought of those strong arms around her, needed all her skill to stop herself from blushing.

Leia tried to reach out with her mind.

_What had happened? _

His eyes flashed angrily when he got up.

"Get out of my head."

It was sharper than what she had expected, but his harshness did not shy her away. On the contrary.

"A please wouldn't hurt."

No. No Princess would have said that. It was unwise to provoke him. Her station didn't allow it.

"I am not one of your subjects, your highness."

"You wanted a Sith, right?"

"Sometimes the most terrible thing is a wish granted."

Leia smiled sweetly but otherwise remained as impassive as a porcelain doll.

"Perhaps. Still, I wish to continue my training on the planet. I have grown tired of the _Chimaera_ and even you cannot deny that Master C'aboth’s wish holds some benefits."

"It is risky."

"The sooner I finish my training, the more help I'll be."

"Are we negotiating?"

"Always."

The Chiss laughed.

"You remind me of him sometimes."

Suddenly Leia felt dead. _Him._ The topic she had avoided for long. Vader. _How much was she like him? _A Sith. A murderer. Surely, not a drop of his blood had any nobility to it.

"How much do you know about the man underneath the mask?"

He came closer and then tilted up her chin.

"Enough to know that you are a lot like him." He let her go again and then studied her from head to toe.

"Not his stature or looks. But once cornered, you are your father's daughter."

A terrible feeling. The one of not knowing. Thrawn, like an omniscient narrator, or a cruel ancient God, held all the answers, while she was the toy he liked to play with, to torment. He held out some tiny piece of information, only to see if she would bite, or he would make some spiteful remark to see if her appearance would crack. Well, it would not. Well-bread or not, her mother, the queen of Alderaan, had given her good advice once: "A woman must always be the flame and never be the moth." With conquerors like Thrawn this was even more true.

_But did she want him to conquer her? And hadn't her actions - supposed actions - already disqualified her? Case closed, battle won?_ She should be ashamed of herself. If she really wanted a man like Thrawn, the best strategy was usually to withhold access to the bedchamber till after the wedding. Well, that ship had passed. Or hadn’t it? Perhaps he didn't remember either? No, chances were they had done it and he had left her like a court courtesan, a whore, in the morning.

Leia pursed her lips. Domadi and Solo might not have been worthy of her affections, but they had loved her well enough. This one however...Her dark eyes became smaller...This one deserved revenge.

He seemed to sense her foul mood.

"The man behind the mask is tall, blonde and blue-eyed, my Princess."

To her utmost surprise the first picture that came up in her mind was Luke's.

_Such a dear boy… _

She could only pray that he was alright.

"And he rarely did as he was told, causing much trouble."

"Let us avoid such scenes then and let me go."

"I will think about it. You will know my answer by tonight."

With that he dismissed her. And she left none the wiser.

Leia couldn't remember her way back to the quarters, so confused had she been.

_Her father. _

_Thrawn._

_The Force._

_C'baoth._

All of it was too much.

Leia stared at the bed.

_What had she done?_

_What had he done?_

_Had they least used protection?_

_Was she really surprised by his behaviour? What had she expected? Why was she so confused by all of this? She herself had considered sleeping with him, hadn't she? _Sex was a weapon like any other... A means of power. Of lust. Passion.

_Why had she done this? Who was she?_

She barely recognised the woman in the mirror. Her eyes went down to the packet of pain killers the doctor had given her. The physical pain was gone, but everyone knew that painkillers also worked on the mind. Leia went to the bathroom and then swallowed two pills with a huge gulp of water. It didn't take long until she felt her mind go numb and her eyes became heavy. She needed sleep now, some quiet, some peace of mind.

_Did that make her weak? Or only Human?_

No. These were the things nobody could do without. Not even the daughter of Lord Vader.

**TBC**

**P.S.:** Don't remember Niles Ferrier? Easy, just imagine "Bud Spencer" with a cigar. ;)


	13. Into the Unknown

**Chapter 13 - Into the Unkown**

Leia lay in bed and stared at the ceiling.

_Had they really done it? In this very bed?_

The idea was ridiculous…At the same time, it wouldn’t leave her mind.

_How had it been?_

She tried to imagine it and – failed.

Of course, every man was different in bed. Kier Domadi had been sweet. But, as first-time sex often went, it had been clumsy and awkward, as neither of them had had any experience in the matter. In the end, it had worked as it was supposed to, but afterwards Leia hadn't been all that impressed with the whole concept of sex. The second time around hadn’t been any better. On the other hand, she couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend than Kier for her first time.

Han had been different. On many levels. He had been older, more experienced and his arrogant manner had turned her on more than a little, not that she would ever openly acknowledge that. She had lost her head and the sex had been spectacular for a while. Well, Han had his own pattern when it came to sex, his favorite routine easily included his tiny cabin in the _Falcon_, some canned ale, deep penetration from behind and was usually over in about 5 minutes. 15 max., if you counted foreplay. If there was a sabacc game before or after, he might even call it perfect. It had never been “romantic”. But how could it have been between meeting his shady smuggling “friends”, the Rebellion and running from the Empire? She had no need to complain though, 1 out of 2 times he had made her come, an accomplishment Kier had never managed. She could still remember her astonishment the first time she’d climaxed, it had been like a whole new world had opened up to her. And as much as Han tried to uphold his bad-ass smuggle image, deep down inside, he was a good guy and he had always been loving and caring with her. He would never have hurt her.

_Thrawn might…. _

Just like Kier and Han were different, so was Thrawn. Well, he was older than her - a lot older if he really had known her mother. And he was a soldier.

Leia had trouble imagining it. Not him being naked and in bed with her, but the way he would…Leia hesitated… the expression “made love” didn’t fit. She closed her eyes and tried to conjure up some images from last night. There were - pictures. Flashes. _Reality or imagination?_

It was rough and hard. He probably wouldn’t want it any other way. He was not a giver, not a lover. He took, he used everyone, including women… Had he growled low commands into her ear? Had he forcefully pushed her down and rolled over on her stomach? Had he grabbed her hair, pulled her head back while fucking her? She didn’t know. There had been no marks, but somehow she couldn’t imagine casual Saturday evening sex with him. Or perhaps she was all wrong. After all, Rebel propaganda more or less marked all Imperial Officers as perverted sex offenders, which, surely, wasn’t the case.

Leia sight. And to make matters worse it was not all about him, was it? What had _she_ done? _How would she react to someone that was, most probably, controlling if not __dominating in bed__?_ She wasn’t a Rebel Princess for nothing. She liked to be in control. She had never truly lost it. Would she fight it? Her body said no. So, had she _liked_ it?

All these thoughts were driving her insane. But she was also afraid to see the truth. To start meditating, finding…what? That nothing had happened? Which would ultimately mean that her subconsciousness wanted it to happen. Or that it had been a total disappointment? Perhaps he had fallen asleep on her, which would also explain the lack of physical evidence….Or that he had been totally mind-blowing???

Leia shook her head in desperation, grabbed a pillow and pushed it over her face. This couldn’t go on. She had to know it. She just had to.

***

_Calm down. Relax. Reach out with the Force. Open your mind and let the Force guide you, let It show you what you need to know; what you want to know…_

It was a strange feeling – to be alone in your quarters and not to be alone at the same time, like there was some spiritual presence there, not like a Force ghost, but some sort of… memory of the recent past? More like a scent which has almost faded away, but you could still feel it if you concentrated enough.

There was a masculine scent, not unpleasant - rather welcomed back then and appreciated even now. Rich and exotic. Leia knew it was _him_. Her heartbeat accelerated at the moment of realization and the knowledge thrilled her not only because it meant that she had succeeded in yet another discipline of the Force, but also because it marked her success on a completely different battlefield: Thrawn. Yes, it had been _her_. _She_ had been the conqueror, the winner – _she_ had made the Grand Admiral lose his temper; _she_ had made him want something, or rather _someone,_ he knew he shouldn’t.

She remembered. And one of the things she remembered now, as clear as day, was the cold calculation in his fiery eyes, and the one thought that had been on his mind… That she wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning.

Leia silently cursed him to the Seven Hells of Corellia. _Bastard. _And, of course, he had been right – under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have remembered. But the Force was her ally, which left her a lot less helpless than the Grand Admiral assumed.

Yes, she remembered now. She remembered how he had kissed her, had clung to her, had _wanted_ her – her skills and mind, but also her body and soul. He had denied himself for as long as he could, for many perfectly logical reasons for sure, but there was also the feeling of humiliation, as he, the great Grand Admiral of the Empire, _wanted, needed _something from her. The Rebel. And then there it was - the perfect opportunity – _She wouldn’t remember any of it…_

And there he had been wrong. _Right?_ But Thrawn was never wrong. Surely, he must have thought of the eventuality that the Force might help her. Or was this just another test? To see if she could do it? To test her limits? Or to see if she _wanted _to know? Thinking about Thrawn drove her mad, as it wasn’t easy. You always had to think further, one step ahead was never enough. So, were lay his confidence then? In her inability to use the Force or that she didn’t want to see? But she wanted…

And there it was, the memories became more vivid: kisses willingly and eagerly returned. She soon found herself buried underneath his hot, bare body. His strong arms around her. The feeling of skin on skin that nearly made her lose her mind, her fingers ran through his thick, dark hair, kissing, exploring. He had a body to die for, amazingly well-built, broad-shouldered, lean-hipped, ripped muscles. But there were scars too, on his back, old and almost faded, in a lighter shade of blue. _Torture. _The word came unbidden to her mind. _How? _But then there was his mouth, hot and demanding, and when he slid into her, invaded her without warning, oh-my-fucking-god, there was _bliss._

He took his time, moving slowly, making her hungry for it, swallowing her moans with deep, hungry kisses, while she kept her eyes closed, holding on to him, desperately trying to anchor herself against the war he had started on her. A war which she was losing fast. Leia bit her lower lip to stop herself from telling him how good this felt, whereas her treacherous body arched beneath him, begging him for more. She moaned and felt herself tightening.

“Easy, my Princess. We have time.”

He slowed down, his right hand gliding over her like she was a fragile porcelain figurine.

“What if I don’t want easy?” She asked, pulling him farther down. “I’m not a precious piece of art about to join your collection, you know?”

“And there you are wrong.” He kissed her then, slowly moving inside of her. “You are” he whispered into her left ear. “mine. Exclusively.”

“You would want that, wouldn’t you?”

“I am not in the habit of sharing, my dear.”

“Pity, for you will never have me. Unless…”

“Unless?”

This time it was Leia who initiated the kiss. It was deep and slow and brought her nerves on fire.

“Unless..” She hushed “… you help me kill the Emperor.”

That made him stop. He was still inside her, hard and aroused, yet he came back to his senses, into his `Grand Admiral mode´.

“Well played…and I give you credit for trying. I guess I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t. You are… after all, a Rebel… and a Sith.”

“And you have no experience in fucking one.”

“How can you tell?”

Leia gave him a sly look.

“You’re fucking a Sith with no protection.”

“My protection is right over there.”

Leia looked aside and then back up at him.

“A funny furry lizard in a corner of my bedroom?” She laughed. “But there are so many other ways to get under that blue skin of yours.” She slowly scratched with her fingernails down his back. “Are you not worried at all?”

“What should I be worried about?”

She touched his cheek and gently ran a finger across his lips.

“Love is a dangerous game, my dear… And you seem to like taking risks…”

He smiled.

“Calculated risks, my princess.”

“Like?”

“Your fertile days.”

She wanted to slap him. Hard. She even raised her hand, but then froze.

“What if you miscalculated?!”

“That never happened before.”

This time she didn’t stop – he had been asking for it!

As if intentionally provoked, he easily predicted her response and caught her hand right in time to pin it, together with the other one, above her head.

“You really like making things harder, don’t you?” he said while looking straight into her eyes. The ambiguous reply not lost on her. “So I’m going to make you… _experience_ the consequences.”

He was rough then, but at the same time unnervingly precise with each of his thrusts. Leia hated him and loved him for that. She knew him well enough to know that everything he did was deliberate – maybe the Chiss was even counting the strokes and how many seconds it would take for her to break… to scream in sweet surrender. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, but, at last, she had to give in.

***

Leia got up with a jerk. She was still shaky; her heart beating wildly in her chest.

Oh God, they had had sex and she had come. 

And what was even worse - He had.

_`Your fertile days.´ _She heard his voice in her head.

_Bastard! What a bloody bastard!_

_Had she TOTALLY lost her mind! _

Leia jumped out of bed.

_Alcohol should be illegal! Punishable by law! With zero tolerance! _

With steady steps, she walked right into the bathroom and got out a tiny med scanner.

_Fertile days..._

She moved the tiny device several times over her stomach until she heard a high beep. The display blink green and she let out her breath, relieve washing over her like a tidal wave.

_He had been right. _

_***_

In the military, following orders could mean the difference between life and death. You followed them without question or hesitation or people died. Every soldier knew that. But following orders was also the universal excuse for everything. Following orders could therefore not equal switching off your brain. Gilad Pellaeon knew more than most commanders of the fleet could ever dream to learn. His reputation had earned him respect and a good position. But ever since he had started to work for the Chiss following orders had become…harder.

As always, the Chiss had gone right to the point. No pleasantries, no small talk and after he had finished, Pellaeon was sure that all his blood had drained from his face.

“The _Tormentor_ is one of our ships.” He said and as soon as the words had left his mouth, he knew it had been a mistake. Thrawn’s fiery stare felt like burning ice.

“Blind sheep are bad officers.” There was a brief pause. “But I expect even those with long service records to respect my rank and to obey my commands.”

“I did not mean to imply otherwise, Sir.”

But he made it hard. Killing your own people was sometimes necessary, Gilad knew this. Terrible, but necessary. But Thrawn had given him no reason for it. He did not see the necessity. Actually, nothing about this made any sense to him! How could he, with a good conscience, kill 587 of _his_ men? And destroy all 24 of _their_ long-distance communication relays? Without understanding why? Perhaps he was too old for this? No. This wasn’t normal and every cell of his being rebelled against it. Every normal Commander would have explained it, would have _trusted _him enough to tell. But not Thrawn. He never did. He didn’t have to, of course. Privilege of rank. But he _should _trust him. People might question his loyalty or some might even call him a racist, but the truth was that he was neither used nor comfortable with the situation. And he could not help but ask _´Why´?_ Why didn’t he tell him? Why didn’t he trust him with this information? These orders were detrimental to the morale of every soldier present to witness them being carried out! So, why give them?!

“Good.” The cultivated voice said flatly.

To clarify an officer's responsibility, the Academy taught every aspiring cadet the hierarchy of loyalties: to the Emperor, the Empire, the Navy, your superior officer, the shipmate, and, lastly, to yourself. Therefore, questioning the Admiral did not compromise the loyalty of the soldier as a whole, as long as he stayed true to the Empire and the Navy. Still, such thoughts were dangerous and more often than not connected to words like ‘treason’ and ‘mutiny’. Words he did not like.

“And get the Princess and Master C’baoth on board the _Chimaera_.”

“They might not be too happy about that, Sir.”

“Then it is your job to provide them with the _necessary motivation_.”

Pellaeon held the Chiss’ stare. This was not his usual style. He liked to be seen as a gentleman, a connoisseur of the arts, the well-mannered strategist. But he knew the Chiss was brutal too. In his own vicious and efficient way. There were many who preferred Thrawn to his Human colleagues because he seemed more ´rational´ and less ´emotional´. Well, that may be true, however, those people probably did not see the danger that he would kill any of them just as rational and unemotional if it served his cause. 

“Of course, Admiral.”

With that on his mind, and a very bad feeling in his gut, the _Chimaera_’s Captain turned around and left.

***

Leia hit as hard as she could, slicing through the wood that came flying through the air as if it was butter.

“Very good my young apprentice. You seem better than yesterday.”

“I’m more motivated than yesterday,” Leia explained and then brush the sweat from her forehead with her left hand. Things were so much easier when she pretended it was Thrawn she was fighting. The very thought of him made her angry and her anger made her stronger and helped her to see things clearly with the Force. Time seemed to slow down and seemingly momentous tasked became easy within the blink of an eye. The Force was – _everything_ and it talked to her, helped her. She had only just begun her training, yet it felt so right. So easy. How she could have been cut off from it seemed almost laughable now. It was everywhere. It was a part of her.

“You are a warrior Jedi.” The old man said.

Leia looked up at him with confusion in her eyes.

“Of course I am. All Jedi were warriors.”

C’baoth laughed.

“Oh no. The Force manifests itself in many ways. They had the Force, yes, but some were healers, counselors, oracles who specialized in prophecies and seeing the future and yes, there were warriors too. Of course, those were the most famous ones. Some were better than others, but you, my young Princess, you are a natural.”

Leia blushed without wanting to. Vader. She had inherited it from him. She did not want anything from him.

“Thank you.”

“The Admiral doesn’t do things half-way, does he? You are more than I had ever hoped for. Tell me Princess, your Midichlorian count, has it ever been checked?”

“No, Master.” Leia lied, carefully guarding her mind while doing so. It would be better to keep him in the dark about her test results. Thrawn had mentioned that his results were lower and somehow she did not think he liked being second.

Then she heard foot-steps. Many. At least twenty. Within minutes there was a squad of stormtroopers surrounding them, guns ready, Ysalamiri on their backs.

“The Grand Admiral wishes you onboard his ship.”

“The invitation is as charming as the man himself,” Leia said eying the rifles and then slowly lifted her hands.

“You too.” Another man barked through his helmed and reluctantly C’baoth followed her example.

“He will regret treating a Jedi like that.” The older man hissed, while another white trooper disarmed Leia.

“Shut up and walk to the shuttle.”

Suddenly Leia felt a rifle’s muzzle in her back. “Don’t fall asleep Princess. You don’t want to keep the Admiral waiting.”

***

Where the _Tormentor_ had been only seconds ago was now a debris field. Remnants... mangled metal... rubble. 

Pellaeon felt sick.

They had had no idea what was hitting them. At least it had been quick. They had not suffered.

The silence on the bridge was thick and everyone was staring at him. He could literally _feel_ their eyes on his back and it did not feel good. He felt like a bad person. Of course, killing was part of every soldier’s life. He had vomited after shooting his first man. And he had drunk after his first interrogation. Similar things had happened after his first real battle after the first time men had died because he had made a mistake. It happened. To everyone. You felt terrible. That was normal. That was Human. This _wasn’t. _

The communications officer brought him back to reality.

"Sir, it’s the away-team." he said. "The Princess and the Jedi are on board."

“Very good.“ Pellaeon said and then went to the navigation station.

“These are our new coordinates.” He said and showed them to the elder man on duty.

“Are you sure? That’s outside our star maps, Sir.”

Pellaeon silently cursed the Chiss and suppressed a sigh.

“Lieutenant Commander Liu, I expect even those with long service records to respect my rank and to obey my commands – without question.”

He did not like this – at all.

**TBC**


	14. Pellaeon's Suspicions

**Chapter 14 - Pellaeon’s Suspicions **

The Grand Admiral's unusual orders had already increased his vigilance and distrust, but when Pellaeon had discovered that the _Chimaera_ had lost contact with other ships of the Imperial Fleet, he had finally called the thing by its name: Thrawn was about to commit treason.

Before reaching that conclusion, Pellaeon had tried to contact Admiral Faro, the commander of the Eleventh Fleet, but only deathly silence had answered him, as the external communication systems had been down, which in turn had meant this was not a typical malfunction, but, most likely, the work of a saboteur. In retrospect, perhaps rather naïvely, Captain Pellaeon had then been on his way to the Grand Admiral's quarters and, only after having left several grey corridors behind, the Captain had frozen, in a typical, proverbial hand to forehead slap moment.

_What if it had been Thrawn who had intentionally damaged the communication system? In that case, it was probably better not to report to him that the defect had been detected, but to fix it quietly and quickly…_

Actually, by doing so, Pellaeon did not violate the regulations as he was not obliged to include all the details in his reports, and something like a technical malfunction did not require the attention of the Grand Admiral of the Seventh Fleet himself. However, Thrawn liked to be informed about seemingly irrelevant facts. However, each ‘hunch’ needed proof, or he would suffer the consequences. Thus, he had to find out what was going on and whether his intuition was right. Presenting the Grand Admiral with false information, did not only display his own incompetence, but, for example, if all of this turned out to be the fault of an inept communications officer, reporting the problem to Thrawn would equal signing a death sentence for the soldier in question. On the other hand, if they had a rebel spy on their ship, it was his duty, as Captain of the _Chimaera_, to capture him. He had to conduct the investigation in a discrete manner as to not alarm his target. He couldn't trust anyone - in fact, he shouldn't trust anyone.

_Would it be a mistake to talk to Thrawn? _

_If the Grand Admiral was somehow involved in this - yes. _

_And if Thrawn was innocent? …. If Pellaeon really trusted his commander and wouldn’t harbour any reasons to accuse him of "treason" or plan "mutiny" – then no. _

But Thrawn was cunning and very perceptive. Five minutes of talking to him would have the same effect as walking down the _Chimaera's_ corridors wearing a T-shirt that says "I'm thinking about mutiny". Pellaeon would be placed under arrest, and then put in front of a firing squad.

He was actually wondering why Thrawn had made him a Captain of the _Chimaera_ after Commodore Faro had been promoted to Admiral. Grand Admiral Thrawn had given him a lot of credit and a huge boost of confidence, and all of that, besides the fact that he had known how Pellaeon’s service under Grand Admiral Savit had ended. Pellaeon had spoken out against his direct superior – so, he was a rebel, in his own way. But he had always done and still did what his conscience and soldierly honour dictated. It was never easy, but so far, he had done the right thing. However, during the incident with Savit, he hadn’t been 100% sure whether he had been acting in the interests of the Empire or in rebellion against it. He had just trusted his gut. He had bet everything on one card. And he had won.

But when he looked back now, the whole situation seemed clear and much simpler than what was happening on the _Chimaera_ at the moment. First, a Rebel Princess had appeared on board and then a mad Jedi Master had shown up... Yes, the Grand Admiral had been quite eager to reach out to the enemies of the Empire. And Gilad had kept silent. But when he had been forced to give the order to destroy an imperial ship and to kill _their _people, something inside him had snapped. It had reminded him too much of Savit's behaviour and Pellaeon had sworn to fight the people like him, the traitors of the Empire.

He didn't know Thrawn's motives, but whatever was driving the Chiss, it probably wasn't the good of the Empire. And if Gilad wanted to remain loyal to the Emperor, he had to rebel against the Grand Admiral, put him in a cell, where Thrawn would then have to wait for the Emperor’s judgment. In theory.

Because, unlike Pellaeon, not everyone followed the rules, and Thrawn held a powerful position and had many influential allies – so, if he was not careful, he, Pellaeon, and not the Chiss, might be accused of treason in the end. And there was another possibility: that the destruction of the _Tormentor_ had indeed been in the interest of the Empire. That it had been necessary. Immoral, yes. Cruel, absolutely. And yet inevitable.

But then Thrawn should have told him. Should have explained it. Gilad needed this, just as many soldiers had once needed someone to help them understand what had happened on Scarif, or why Alderaan had been destroyed, and how the orbital battle station, better known as the Death Star, could have exploded. They had had so many questions back then…

_Had the Rebels been in possession of some kind of miracle weapon which had allowed them to win the battle of Yavin? Or had the Death Star crew made a mistake, which had resulted in the death of Grand Moff Tarkin?_

Gilad remembered having read the official announcements and watching the holonet news. Yes, he too had had his doubts that maybe the rebels were stronger than commonly claimed and that the attack on Alderaan hadn’t brought them any closer to winning this war.

In the end, the hydra’s head had been cut off - the head of Bail Organa - but the monster had grown more…

And one of them was Bail Organa’s daughter, which was now on board of his ship. Princess Leia, who, allegedly, had the same magical powers as Lord Vader, and who had, supposedly, also managed to seduce his commander. Secretly Pellaeon accused her of changing Thrawn. Of bewitching him. The Ysalamiri might be able to repel the Force, but they could not protect against the feminine charm of which the Princess had plenty.

Of course, treason was treason, but the Captain still preferred to think that Thrawn did it for the sake of his people, the Chiss, and not because of whatever the Rebel Princess had whispered into his ear_... _

_And how was he, Thrawn’s right hand, supposed to react?_

If they would have been friends, he might have been able to talk some sense into Thrawn – to tell him that it was not worth sacrificing everything for a woman. But how to find the right words, if you weren’t talking to a friend, but to a damn Grand Admiral? It was almost like telling the Emperor to change his diet. He couldn't do that, and yet he had to do something! Get rid of Organa? Tell Vader that the Princess had the Force? If only the communication systems still worked!

Moreover, Pellaeon was reluctant to rebel against authorities, and instead of conspiring, he preferred to negotiate. The incident with Savit had been an exception, one he still revisited often – far too often – in his mind. What he really needed right now was advice - from someone who knew Thrawn better than he did, and who could understand his bizarre behaviour. That someone was Admiral Karyn Faro. But he couldn’t reach her. And even if he had been able to, would she have been objective? Or would she have taken Thrawn's side no matter what? Faro probably liked her former commander and might be quite loyal to him. Unlike Pellaeon, who, at the moment, felt as changeable as a weathervane.

Well, after considering all possibilities, Pellaeon decided to do the honourable thing: To confront Thrawn directly – to ask him about the destruction of the _Tormentor_ and to mention the damage of the communication systems. It wouldn’t be easy - to face the Grand Admiral, to look into his fiery, red eyes and to say... the word that had been on the tip of his tongue all day long: "treason." Anyway, one of them had gotten things wrong. _But was it Thrawn? Or him? _

**TBC**


	15. The truth hurts

****15 - THE TRUTH HURTS****

Their swords met in a collision of pure hatred.

Leia was out of breath but did not stop her assault, each time swinging her sword harder and faster, without faltering. Their battle took them from one end of the room to the other and what Thrawn knew from experience, Leia made up for with pure determination.

When she aimed for his shoulder, the Chiss skilfully deflected her sword to the side, but stumbled, not having expected such a forceful blow from the tiny woman in front of him, and the Princess showed no mercy then, leaving Thrawn barely with enough time to parry, never mind thinking about where he went. When he had finally reached the end of the wall, Leia aimed for the kill, lifting her sword and bringing it down with a loud crash. The sword might be just a wooden sword, but that one would have hurt, had it met its target. However, Thrawn ducked just in time and rolled to the side, before coming back up, increasing the distance between them.

“Someone has been practicing.” He said, but somehow it didn’t sound like a praise.

Instead of answering him, Leia turned around and brought her sword down on his once more.

Blades crossed, they moved back to the middle of the room their faces only inches apart of each other.

“No venomous words from you today, Princess?” The Chiss provoked.

Leia made a face and then pushed harder against their blades, but the Admiral only chuckled and then copied her strategy, easily bringing her down to the floor.

Leia cursed under her breath. Without the Force, his physical strength was hard to overcome, no matter how good her technique had become.

The Chiss put his sword under his armpit and opened his gloves. 

“You and I are not finished, Thrawn.” Leia hissed.

He looked down at her, perhaps for the first time really noticing her anger.

“There is no way you can win. You can only postpone your defeat, losing your strength while doing so.”

He turned around and started to unbutton his jacket. “And I do not want you to fall asleep during mental shielding practise.”

Leia threw the wooden sword into the corner and then got up with a groan. She hated how logical he was and at the same time wished to be more like him.

“Are you sure you still want to do that? Is already quite late.”

“Yes, C’baoth is angry and he becomes less receptable to reason once cornered.”

Leia, too, took off her gloves now and then went to the Ysalamir cage that stood in the corner. Again, it was Thrawn’s little pet, which had already grown quite a bit. Leia laughed when she noticed a small red collar around its neck and how it was obviously looking forward to her attention.

_Well, well, my little friend,_ Leia thought, while going down on her knees, stroking the animal’s yellow fur through the bars, _we two have something in common, you know? _

And where she had just been about to make the greatest mistake a prisoner can make - displeasing one’s master, this little creature here was about to make the second - pleasing him too much, while unconsciously sliding into the trap of growing too comfortable in one’s role. A possibility she was facing too. _For heaven’s sake, she had let him fuck her!_

Getting back up with new energy, Leia turned around and faced the Chiss.

“How would you know?”

“I met the original once.”

Leia raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a huge difference?”

“Not really. He tried to suffocate me.”

Leia almost laughed. Many people seemed to harbour that wish, so no surprise there. But what was surprising was…

“How come you survive?”

Something like a shadow crossed his face. _A rare emotion? Sadness? A memory?_

“I guess I am just better at killing people than he was.”

***

_Was it a serious offense to disturb a Grand Admiral in his free time?_

Pellaeon, in all his long military career, had never shown any disrespect towards his commanders. Well, that was before considering an unannounced arrival at the Grand Admiral's quarters to demand an explanation as to why he did what he did, and why he gave this order instead of any other. But the fact that Thrawn used to listen to Gilad's comments during their mutual campaign against the Rebels, did not mean their relations went anywhere beyond official acquaintances. After all, there was a difference between having private contact with Thrawn, even if they were discussing `professional issues´, and making comments on the bridge about their current situation.

For example, when they had fought a squadron of Rebel’s x-wings once, Pellaeon had noticed that the performed manoeuvre of the hostile pilot very much resembled something that, many years ago, he had witnessed in a race on his homeworld, Corellia. Back then, he had known that it was nothing but a blind shot: a loose association, but when he had dared to mention it to the Grand Admiral, he had not only been proud of him, but he had even praised him for his perceptiveness! However, just as often his blind shots, reacting on instinct alone, had turned out incorrect – and then, to his great embarrassment, Thrawn had simply canceled his orders and had given completely different ones, pulling them out of the danger.

He and Thrawn had never talked about war strategy in the broader sense. As a rule, the Grand Admiral worked out the individual battle plans by himself and he wasn't used to telling Gilad more than he needed to know in order to properly perform his role. Maybe Thrawn didn't want to concern his deputy or overwhelm him with too much data; or perhaps he just considered him `too stupid´ to understand his plans. So the Grand Admiral just gave his captain precise instructions, and the fact that the Chiss was rarely wrong had made Gilad trust him.

Nevertheless, Pellaeon was not a machine that thoughtlessly carried out someone else's orders - he wanted to know more and understand the reasons behind things. Unfortunately, Thrawn was the first commander he had come across to not offer cooperation in this part. Therefore, knocking on the private doors of the Grand Admiral's quarters cost Gilad a lot: If things went well, he might get away with an official warning. If they didn’t, well, it depended on his words really, whether he would keep his job or go into Imperial custody right away, as a Rebel and a traitor.

It was a very bad idea, really, and all instincts told him to run away, but soldier's honour held him firmly in place. Finally, he raised his hand and knocked.

It couldn't be worse than facing Lord Vader, Pellaeon thought. At least Thrawn wasn’t in the habit of killing the messenger, even if he or she gave him very bad news. And before punishing someone the Grand Admiral, usually, took the time to listen to the person carefully.

Perhaps Gilad was on the verge of committing suicide - professional or perhaps even literally? – but if this visit could mean the difference between saving or sacrificing his crew, he would gladly go ahead with it.

The door opened by itself, with a loud hiss. It was dark inside. Gilad, with his heart beating madly in his chest, took the first step forward, into an impenetrable darkness. Then he took the second step, feeling as if he were sneaking into the hideout of a wild beast and he visibly winced when the door behind him closed again. Then a second door, the inner one, opened, leading directly to Thrawn's private quarters.

“Captain Pellaeon.”

Had that been irritation in the Grand Admiral’s voice? He saw him sitting in a large armchair, in what Pellaeon could only describe as incomplete or insufficient attire – Well, Thrawn was not wearing a jacket, and there was nothing marking him as an Imperial Grand Admiral. And... he treated his right hand with bacta? Pellaeon caught himself staring for a split second, but quickly retained himself, and to gain some time, snapped with his heels.

“Sir.”

“At ease”, Thrawn said.

Pellaeon swallowed. The Chiss didn’t wear his gun belt if he quickly reached for his blaster...

No, he couldn't do that. Anyway, if he had come here to capture the Grand Admiral, he should have come with backup, with at least a handful of trusted men.

He looked away from Thrawn, to give him a little privacy. As gazing at the blue biceps, which were exposed at the moment, and the muscular torso, although covered by a black sports shirt, might be perceived wrongly otherwise.

Not knowing where to look, Gilad’s eyes somehow got stuck at the nearest pseudo-museal display cabinet, filled with some weird artefacts. There was a square cube with inscriptions in an unknown language and... _Sith! Was that a lightsaber?!_ At that point, Pellaeon was sure he had made a serious mistake by entering this room. Twice he had to remind himself that Thrawn wasn't Vader, and that he wouldn't be able to strangle him with the Force, and that this sword... was purely a collector's item. At least that's what Gilad hoped.

“Captain, whatever is on your mind, couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow?” Thrawn asked quietly.

Gilad looked at the Chiss from the corner of his eyes: he was still sitting in the chair, undressed - or rather: underdressed, looking not properly, not according to his official rank.

“Something is obviously troubling you,” the Grand Admiral said. “And you wanted to give me some information. Unofficially, personally. I suspect it has something to do with our guests. Please, you can speak openly here.”

He pointed at the terrarium with his Ysalamir.

“Master C'baoth cannot hear us," he added with satisfaction in his voice.

“Sir... this is not about C'baoth," Pellaeon said slowly. “It's about... losing contact with other ships.”

“Oh.”

The Grand Admiral was not surprised. So he had known about the malfunction and... had ignored it? Or he had caused it himself.

“Captain, listen carefully to what I am going to say now,” Thrawn said. “We are transporting two dangerous creatures on our ship that are capable of influencing the Human mind. And if they cannot fully control someone, they are usually capable to stir up at least some emotions, like anger or fear...”

`Or... desire.´ an alarming voice in his head added.

“Sir, are you certain this ability is limited to Human minds?”

_Oh, no. Oh, yes! _He had done it. He had suggested to Thrawn that he might have fallen victim to the charms of the Rebel Princess.

And then something happened that Gilad would never have suspected of his superior: The Chiss laughed quietly.

“Your doubts are not unfounded, but... the only non-human on board the _Chimaera_ is me, and I can't be controlled that way.”

Thrawn rose from his chair and approached the display case with the artifacts, that Gilad thought, had once belonged to a Jedi.

“I have studied the Force for some time," the Chiss said, "and I have developed a strategy for fighting its users. I do not have to be afraid of C'baoth, and neither does the crew, as long as they follow my orders.”

“If we're protected by the Ysalamiri,” Pellaeon said then “why turn off the...”

He bit his tongue at the last minute. _He had almost said it! He'd accused the Grand Admiral of deliberately damaging the ship... by sabotage._

Perhaps Thrawn simply did not want anyone to reveal, consciously or unconsciously, who they harboured on board the _Chimaera_. Or did they carry out some secret orders from the Emperor? To deliver Leia Organa and Joruus C'baoth to him? Or did the Grand Admiral act on his own, and Gilad, rightly, suspected him of treason?

Thrawn struck him with a look of his fiery eyes and Pellaeon felt shivers running down his back.

“There are methods to increase the range of the Force," the Chiss said, a sharper tone appearing in his voice for the first time. “As a result, a mighty Jedi or Sith could manage to control the entire fleet. Therefore, this strategy is not without risk and... I would hate such to be the fate of the Seventh Fleet. It is thus advisable to keep some of the ships in control of level-headed officers instead of betting everything on one card.”

“Sir?”

“Of course, due to your rank, you were never privy to discussions including such strategy,” Thrawn said. “Yes, past tense. I do not break any military secret here. In fact, much has changed recently, Captain. Our army, as a result of the Emperor's misguided strategy, has been defeated near Endor, and the second Death Star has been destroyed. You will now ask how I know that. Our farthest units have received a signal that confirmed my worst guesses. Operation Cinder has begun.”

Pellaeon shook his head. The Code name meant nothing to him.

“The Emperor's dead, Captain. I mean it.” Thrawn said. “And some of our battle units were ordered to destroy individual planets.”

“No...”

Gilad went back until his back hit the wall and closed his eyes. So this was how his future was painted now: black. A terrible thing had happened, the unthinkable...

There was also another possibility to which the Captain suddenly clung like a drowning sailor to a spar, that Thrawn lied. Perhaps even as part of his cold-calculation, he was not only committing treason, but he was now even going a step further, telling him that he, as Grand Admiral, was the heir to the Empire.

Gilad reopened his eyes, which now suddenly darted up as he looked at Thrawn. He tried to read him, by his gaze or attitude, and he looked for signs of madness too.

“The _Tormentor_.” Pellaeon suddenly said.

This was his last line of defense.

The Grand Admiral had ordered the destruction of this ship. Didn't that show that he was out of his mind?!

“Yes,” Thrawn confirmed. “The _Tormentor_ was about to carry out the last orders of our ruler, and we... did its crew a favour. They were good soldiers, Captain. They obeyed orders, even the wrong ones. And that's what cost them their lives.”

“No”, Pellaeon protested. “It was your order that decided their fate, Sir.”

He felt an unpleasant contraction inside himself. He felt like screaming or throwing up. He clenched his eyelids and tried to take a few deep breaths. He had to calm down.

“Captain”, he heard the Chiss' close, melodious voice. “Is it not worth sacrificing one ship to save an entire fleet?”

“You didn't have to do it. I'm sure there would have been another way…”

Pellaeon opened his eyes and looked helplessly at his superior. _There must have been another way out!_

“Perhaps,” Thrawn said after a while. “But it would have come at a much higher cost. We need to withdraw our forces, strengthen our positions at the borders, and then...”

“Sir,” it was the first time Pellaeon dared to interrupt him so openly. “This is…. treason.”

“Against whom or what, Captain? Dead people or ideals?”

“You mentioned orders, some secret operation, and now instead of fighting, you want to run away.”

_“Run away?”_ Thrawn's voice suddenly became unpleasant when he pronounced the word with disgust. “We are not _running away_, Captain. On the contrary, we are moving to another battlefield.”

“To fight for your people instead of ours.”

The words were out and he couldn't take them back. The Grand Admiral raised one of his eyebrows.

“For my people,” he agreed with the Pellaeon, “and for yours, Captain. For our Empire.”

For the Empire, which, as Gilad had just heard, had fallen apart.

He hung his head and headed for the exit, for he could no longer bear the sight of his admiral.

“Gilad.”

He froze in place. _Had he heard right?_

“Sometimes the truth turns out to be cruel." Thrawn said, "And there are those who cannot accept it and those weaker than us, who could break down under its weight, and lose the will to fight.”

Pellaeon turned around and looked at the Chiss, and when his lips moved again, his words were dripping with venom:

“With _those_ you mean _us_, right? The _Chimaera’s_ crew. How they would handle the news of the Emperor's death? Do you think, Sir, that we fought only for him? No. This news, however tragic it may be, wouldn't break us, but …. when it comes out that our commander, whom many of us would have followed into the fire, lied to us and withheld information... that might.”

Gilad gritted his teeth in anger.

_“I_ trusted you, Sir! I told myself that you had your reasons for acting this way. I was deluding myself that you were not fraternizing with the enemy, although even a blind man could see that you and the Princess... It's all for her, isn't it? The Empire is burning, and you're doing nothing... because of her.”

Thrawn waited for Pellaeon to be silent, and only after a while he spoke again, in a tone that revealed fatigue if anything:

“You are mistaken about the Princess, Captain. You do not see the bigger picture. You have the data right in front of you, but you are unable to interpret it correctly. You know, for example, that Leia Organa has extraordinarily strong Force potential, but you fail to link it to the fact that Lord Vader had offspring... two children, to be precise, and, interestingly enough, both of them were dragged into the Rebellion. The enemy was faster and smarter than us, one might say. But there is still a way to change the figures on the chessboard to a more favourable position. All we have to do is give the Princess what she wants, and she in turn will fight for us, Captain, against the enemies of the Empire... all its enemies.”

Pellaeon twisted his head.

“She certainly got what she wanted so far - her claws nail-deep into you, Sir. And you are the one who does not see it... and even worse, you have no one who dares telling you the bitter truth to your face.”

“Perhaps, Captain. Or perhaps not. Maybe I have someone exactly like that right in front of me.”

“No,” Gilad said. “Not me. I'm resigning.”

For a moment Thrawn remained silent as if suddenly he lacked words, and then he said in a hard tone:

“Your resignation is declined, Captain.”

“It's not all your decision, Sir.”

That was the point when Thrawn’s tone eventually turned cold.

“We are in the midst of a war campaign, and soon we will face a mighty adversary, an alien race that wants to subdue other species. I need you on the _Chimaera’s_ bridge, Pellaeon. I need you to win this war.”

“No," Pellaeon answered bitterly, "you don't _need _me or anyone, except Leia Organa, perhaps. And some pawns to win. You have a lot of pawns. One soldier less, or one ship ... what does it matter?”

He unfastened his rank bar - of which he had been proud for many years - and took a step forward to put it on top of the Grand Admiral's glassy war-trophy cabinet. Thrawn watched him closely but made no move to stop him.

And when his captain's badge finally hit the glass surface with a light thud, Pellaeon felt a huge void inside. In an instant, he had lost everything.

**TBC?**

**A/N:** Coffeeberry and I face a little inspirational crisis at the moment and there are also quite a few of obstacles in a shared writing project such as this. Therefore, we chose to take a break from this fanfiction in order to refocus on our own projects until inspiration strikes again. We thank you so far for reading, leaving “kudos” and all your lovely, supporting reviews. They have been very welcome and much appreciated. 


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